Aparecium: The Tale of the Deathly Heart
by Solisdea
Summary: The night in the astronomy tower changed everything for Harry. Finding love unlike any other, as well as losing it due to malicious spellwork causing her memory to completely lose any recollection of her existence as a witch, Harry was reduced to nearly nothing. The Dark Lord still needed to be vanquished, and what was Harry to do without a Headmaster or his inspiration? Sequel/DH
1. Chapter 1

**a/n: This is a sequel to a previous story of mine named Obliviate. I highly suggest reading it before you check out this one so everything makes sense! I own nothing, and I hope you enjoy this spin on Deathly Hallows! **

Much appreciation!  
~Solis

* * *

There it was. The object that followed Harry without a word or whisper with less than a scratch etched into its deep oak lid. Harry sat on his tiny twin sized bed on the upper floor of the Dursley's home, staring down at his school trunk that normally would have been resting peacefully at his dorm at Hogwarts. The lid opened with ease and Harry began piecing through familiar objects he had stored away from the six years he spent inside the castle. Harry's Quidditch uniform was neatly folded in the far corner; still stains of dirt and a few chips of wood were clinging to the fabric. Harry clearly remembered the time he rammed head first into the Ravenclaw seating tower, watching glimpses of blonde blurring in the speed of flight.

Safely in the center were objects that bore more weight than their actually mass in reality. A wand sat perpendicularly on a leather bound notebook that Harry practiced a few attempts to pick up before he was actually able to do it. The wand was roughly 10 inches, rowan wood with intricate etchings of vines and tiny leaves, and from what Harry was aware of the string of a thestral tail as the core.

This was the first time Harry was able to muster the courage to finger through that logbook of Ophelia Bloom's since the spring when he made the decision to leave Hogwarts. Somehow the pages of the musty book against his lips were able to help ease the darkness in his head wondering where she was now. Harry dare not have the heart to read again the personal entries from her again; he feared he couldn't handle the pain of that he so successfully buried deep inside of him.

Harry had no use for an extra wand, but somehow this dear object ended up in his sack along with the leather-bound book that night.

A few articles from the Prophet lay unfolded in Harry's lap where he found himself reading through obituaries of Albus Dumbledore. Some of the readings were unbelievable to Harry, now realizing that Harry was completely uninformed about Dumbledore's life past the walls of Hogwarts. What should comfort him actually perturbed Harry more recognizing how little he knew of someone who he looked up to as a father figure.

The Dursley's kept their mouths zipped up tight as Harry assisted them in packing their belongings in mountains of cardboard boxes. Even though the Dursley's had been nothing but awful to Harry, he felt he owed it to them to ensure their safety through the impending chaos that could directly affect them. By nightfall, the entire bungalow style house was nothing but gaudy wallpaper and fluffy pink carpet.

The cupboard under the stairs welcomed Harry for the last time as he ducked under the opening and took a seat on the floor staring up at two miniature white shelves. A thick layer of dust piled around the rubber bottoms of Harry shoes as he peered up at the few time worn toys that were still placed on the highest shelf in the cupboard. Thin streams of powder fell from the cracks of the stairs as Harry heard booming knocks on the front door. Hargrid nearly busted the door off the hinges standing alongside Harry's two best friends and a large chunk of The Order. They all noisily filed into the empty family room, making a messy mob around Harry in the center. Remus and Tonks had unusually large smiles on their faces with Tonks attempted to tell Harry of exciting news before Alastor cut them off.

"We don't have time for catch up." He boomed, now taking the center of the room.

"Alright, everyone. Harry still has the mark on him; so don't expect to fly through the lovely night air and sightsee. All Harrys and company, you need to prepare yourself for battle."

"No, absolutely not." Harry took a firm stand in front of Mad Eye.

"Harry don't-"

"No." Harry cut off Hermione.

"This is too dangerous. I can't risk any of you. I can do this alone."

"Are you mad, Potter? This is the best way for you to safely make it out of here alive." Mad Eye protested.

"I've lost too-"

"I know it hurts, Harry. What happened to you was unfair. We all are prepared to fight for you, and the honor of those who can no longer fight. " Bill Weasley affirmed.

Harry barely ever heard Bill speak out against anything, let alone Harry's own bullheadedness. The way the room somberly bowed their heads; Harry knew that Bill was referencing the figurative loss of Lia. Harry sometimes overlooked the fact that each and every one of them encountered loss that year; Lia was a friend to everyone and Harry choked back his pride.

"Alright then." Harry hesitantly agreed.

Fleur, Fred, George, Ron, Mundungus, and Hermione sipped from Alastor's polyjuice flask, gagging down the chunky consistency of the liquid along with tufts of Harry's black hair. Soon the pairs boarded their flying vessels, which quite naturally Harry and Hagrid were paired in Sirius's flying motorcycle taking that one last flight just the like first night the two met.

The motorcycle roared through the starry night sky, and it was only a matter of time before the trails of black translucent Death Eaters were swarming them. With a few cracks of bright violent lightening, Harry's poor eyesight could clearly see an infestation of Death Eaters around his friends. Flashes of green were flying all around Hagrid and Harry, while he countered with curses and hexes back into the darkness.

* * *

Harry awoke, unaware that he had collapsed at the Burrow the night prior after the party had almost all safely returned. The usual clamor coming from Molly's kitchen was now filled with silence. Hedwig hooted softly in her cage, Harry noticing a bandage around her wing, and a handful of her white feathers stained with a brownish red color. George had a matching bandage wrapped tightly around his head as he sipped on a tiny cup of steaming coffee.

"Where is everyone?'

George answered with a head nod toward the cozy fire where mainly everyone except Alastor and Mundungus were gathered. Harry entered the room, slightly worried about the fact that not one of them noticed his presence. For a moment, Harry wondered if he was even alive, or if he was just a ghost floating about.

"Morning." Harry announced standing in the threshold of the room.

The only face to gaze up and meet Harry's was Lupin's, still completely emotionless.

"What happened last night?" Harry questioned, sitting on the edge of the couch next to Arthur.

"Alastor never made it back." Bill announced.

Harry swallowed, now a bit more frightened that one of the best aurors of all time was not able to escape the clutches of Voldemort. Hermione squirmed in her seat, while Ron gripped onto the edges of her knitted pink sweater.

"Harry-"

"Please Arthur, don't. Don't tell him." Hermione uncontrollably wept.

"Tell me what?" Harry leaned in, wondering how the news could get much worse than Alastor's death.

"Harry, last night after we made it back to the Burrow, the Death Eaters were infuriated that their plan didn't execute as smoothly as they had expected. They spent the entire night terrorizing the world, flying in packs just destroying random cities."

Harry was wondering where the bad news was coming, seeing that Arthur was clearly taking overly long to finish his story.

"As a man in the department of Muggle studies I spend most of my time reading Muggle news articles… Lia."

Arthur paused.

"Over holiday Lia set me up with a subscription to The Denver Post, a rather famous newspaper in the state she called home. Errol flew in this morning with the usual lot of Muggle papers from around the world, and … Molly and I came across this."

Arthur lifted his fist over his should and nudged Harry with a balled up newspaper article. Hermione let an outburst of tears and a rather loud squeal while Ginny rose from the floor and pulled Hermione's wavy hair onto her shoulder.

_Boulder, Co. _

_ As of 3am last night Boulder was stricken by what is assumed to be terrorist bombing attacks. Along with Houston, TX, Tempe, AZ, and many other cities in the US, random corporate buildings, schools and some residential areas were affected. Over 1000 citizen deaths have been reported in the country, but only 15 in the city of Boulder. Only five names have been released to our post; Sandy Wilson, a 35 year old 5th grade teacher, Earl Janke, 90 year old Vietnam War Veteran, Tamika and Kurt Wentworth, age 23 and 28 newlywed couple, and 16 year old Ophelia Bloom, a local teen advocate of science and winner of the Youth Outstanding Samaritan award for the city of Boulder. All funeral sessions will be held this Saturday, refer to Obituaries for location._

The air in Harry's lungs ceased, his blood seemed to stop pumping and he felt his body lose control of functions. Arthur caught Harry before he hit the ground; Harry was in a catatonic shock. The sounds of Hermione, Ginny, Molly and Fleur weeping were the only background noise while Harry crumpled the article in his chest. Arthur's grip wasn't necessarily tight and Harry slipped away from him and ran into the back brushes behind the Burrow where he vomited the acid from his stomach into a pile of yellow hay. This was a nightmare; it couldn't be true. Lia was supposed to be protected without her memory of Harry; _that_ was the price he had to pay. It's why Harry never wrote to her, or attempted to retrieve the memories of their past. Harry thought the suffering of Lia was only going to be a dull pain always bothering him in the deepness of his nerves and not a continuous stabbing right into his heart.

After hours of wandering aimlessly in the fields at the Burrow, Harry was completely ready to start analyzing. Whether it be denial, or madness, after a long time of cooling down, Harry wasn't convinced of the article. Either Death Eaters had fabricated it to break Harry down of his last remaining threads, or it really was just a nightmare and Harry had to wait it out to wake up. There was no way in Harry's mind that he wouldn't feel that connection break. From the moment Ophelia stepped into his life, Harry had constant electricity running through him. Even the day that Lia packed her things without an inkling of who Harry was, that electricity never left him.


	2. Chapter 2

The moon had already sent the sun behind the Earth by the time Harry had found himself able to even be around human life. Molly had a giant ornamented chocolate cake placed in the center for her guests that even Harry couldn't resist to cut a slice and pick at. Bill, Ron and Hermione occupied three out of the eight empty seats surrounding Harry; Hermione's eyes were so red you could barely tell they were brown from where Harry was sitting.

"Harry, the wedding can be rescheduled. It's on Friday, but Fleur and I have no problem postponing it." Bill spoke up.

"Bill, its not my right to take that happiness away from you. If anything, it's what we all need. Keep the wedding date, I can apparate in the morning to Colorado." Harry replied.

Bill nodded graciously.

Later that evening, up in the attic Harry stared into the soft wooden planks holding the Weasley's ceiling together wondering if he even had any sanity left. Harry wondered if he imagined the whole relationship, or if even Ophelia Bloom existed. Voldemort had a way into Harry's mind and it wasn't too ridiculous of a statement for Harry to wonder if all of it was just a sick insanity playing out on a movie screen in his head.

Hermione's hand crept over Harry's while Ron snored away in the late evening hours.

"Are you okay, Harry?" She whispered.

"I'm not really sure." Harry replied.

"I'm not. I can't stop thinking that this is more than coincidental. Do you think Bellatrix purposely sought off to kill her anyway? Do you think she maybe got her memories back before….?" Hermione was barely able to squeak out before she quietly wept.

"I can only hope that she got her memories back." Harry wished.

"All I know is that her death has been easier to handle than that moment she walked away not knowing who I was…."

"And hardest thing is knowing that if she never met me, she might still be alive." Harry choked.

"Do you think with her kind of personality that she would've watched from the sidelines while Death Eaters ransacked Hogwarts or even the entire world at that matter? I think that no matter who she knew, there was always going to be a chance with the way she would charge off into battle."

"Yeah."

With the last word that left his lips, Harry was able to roll onto his side and let his eyes close to sleep.

**LINE**

It was the day of Bill and Fleur's wedding, one day after Harry's birthday and also the arrival of the Minister of Magic. The minister distributed the objects meant for Harry, Hermione and Ron that was set in Dumbledore's will.

_To Ronald Billius Weasley, the Deluminator, a power to douse all lights in a surrounding area._

_ To Hermione Jean Granger, the Tales of Beedle the Bard_

_ To Harry James Potter, the sword of Gryffindor and the very first golden snitch caught in his Quidditch game._

The Minister had no additional information that Dumbledore might have left about their impending mission, so the trio quickly dismissed him to expedite their preparations for the Weasley wedding.

Lavender drapes were hung over everything, including the hundreds of chairs that Harry took the task of setting up underneath the reception tent. Being the seldom soul inside of the tent, Harry gravitated toward the wedding arch, which had a nauseating magnetization to it. His two feet planted firmly on the right side, where he gazed off into the white lattice intertwined with random wildflowers from the backyard. Harry's imagination began to run wild as vines of flutterby crept up through the square holes and a faint figure of Lia curled her fingers around the back of his ear. Even though Harry knew it wasn't a real event, he let his mind trail off, watching Ophelia's faint freckles disappear in the crinkles of her wide smile underneath the arbor. The image melted into the invisible afternoon air, and Harry was left alone underneath an empty arch with his fists clenched.

All guests had arrived, and Harry took a seat in the far back corner avoiding confrontation of any kind among the wide variety of witches and wizards. Bill and Fleur's wedding was quick and simple, but not lacking in elegance or beauty. Harry truly smiled for the first time in a long time watching something wonderful happen in the darkest times of many of their lives. It was a beacon of hope the minute Bill leaned in to kiss Fleur and smote the evil, if only for a few hours.

Wild dancing ensued, where Ron and Hermione blithely joined in with Luna, who was spinning in lazy circles. Ginny urged for Harry to dance with her, but Harry couldn't handle the eyes watching him, not knowing if someone was going to leap from a chair and snatch him away to the Dark Lord.

A burst of light came spirally from the west side of the tent and blared Kingsley's voice.

_The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming._

Instinctively, Harry's eyes went straight for Hermione and Ron who were already hustling through the crowd with anxious looks on their faces. No sooner, black vengeful clouds starting spinning through the mass, casting curses in flying lights of color. The three connected their hands and sucked through the vortex being whirled through time and space until they landed face down onto a pile of earth. Hermione and Ron landed only a few feet from Harry, and when he stood all he saw was a dense area of towering trees and forestry. There was no sight of civilization for what seemed like days, but only a few rabbits in the distance scurrying from the display of humans.

"Where are we?" Ron asked

Hermione composed herself, picking a few branches from her hair and pulling out a few sweaters for the boys from her purple bag. Harry cringed from the sight of it, where Hermione quickly noticed and swung the memorable bag around onto the backside of her.

"The Rocky Mountains, not too far from Eaglecrest and-"

"And Lia's cabin." Harry shot back.

"Right before Kingsley's warning came, Ron was spinning me by a floral arrangement and I just recalled a moment where Lia was talking about the wild flowers that grew in a preserve about 5 minutes from her house."

"Betasso Preserve, I remember it clearly from her stories." Harry added.

A trickling noise was the only sound being made in the vast forest while the trio all separated for a moment to strip down and change into more comfortable clothing.

"I think this is Boulder Creek right here. If we follow it we might be able to find the cabin. I know Lia said that you could see her Uncle's beat up truck while she was ankle deep in the creek."

Harry's clunky stride wasn't exactly the best to follow for Ron and Hermione seeing as that not one of them were fashioned hikers. The mountain was difficult to navigate, let alone the poorly lit tip of Harry's wand as he tried no to add any extra distraction to themselves. The edge of the creek bank was soft beige sand that Harry had to be extra observant of, knowing that with one slip he would be floating down the water current. Harry wasn't even quite sure they were following the river in the correct direction, but the night was still young and there was still plenty of energy built up in their spirits.

A Betasso Preserve sign passed the trio as they silently hiked on through the edge of the Rocky Mountain, avoiding any impending danger. Harry knew what they wanted to ask. It was obvious that the two of them were wondering what to do now. There was no set plan, and both of them knew that Harry was flying by the seat of his pants due to no instructions left by Dumbledore after his untimely death.

"I think it's only about a quarter of a mile up here." Hermione stated, flicking her wand to an emerging paved road roughly 5 meters from the water.

The creek took a sharp 90 degree turn and led underneath a quaint wooden bridge, where a tiny lantern could be seen flickering from behind a plaid curtain. A red rusted pickup truck sat idly in a gravel driveway, sitting like a silent guard in front of the cabin. The wood only traveled up one story, and a mini front porch had enough room to fit one rocking chair with a knitted quilt lying over the top of it.

"Harry are you-"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Let's get out of the night."

Without hesitation, Harry let his wand fall out of his sleeve and into the palm of his hand as Ron approached the door and gently knocked. Hermione could see from the window a weathered man sitting in red striped pajamas completely enthralled in a television program.

"Ron, knock harder." Hermione urged.

Ron obeyed and slammed his fists against the door where loud howling ensued and Lia's Uncle John opened the door while holding a basset hound back by it's red collar.

"Can I help you?" The man calmly asked, being able to subdue the hound.

"John Bloom?" Harry asked, not one hundred percent sure of the man's identity.

"Hutcherson, but close enough." He exhaled.

Harry barely recalled the appearance of Lia's uncle; he had only seen him the one time, and it was on the worst day of Harry's life thus far.

"Harry, I barely saw you back there." John said with his sleepy eyes scarcely open.

"Come in, warm your feet."

John fully opened the door, cleared off a small spot for Hermione on the couch, and offered the two boys a spot next to his dog resting on a floor mat.

"You recognize me?" Harry inquired.

"I'm not as stupid as I look, boy. Your face isn't one that someone forgets. Now might I ask what y'all are doing showin' up on my porch at midnight?"

"We had no where else to go." Hermione pleaded, "And we thought it be appropriate to pay respects before tomorrow…"

"Ah yes. Tomorrow's the day isn't it? Funny thing is that most of Lia's life, at least since she was in my care, I always knew that something like this was gonna happen to her. It's why when she came back here, with no memory of what she was…. I was happy. We spent time together with no magic, no spells, nothin'. Her auntie lost her life doin' the same stuff. I always thought she was just a wild spirit with the potions and spells. But Lia, I saw magic come from her hands. Prim, she never made much with her whispers and wand; why so many years I pretended it was a joke, a big made up fairytale in her head. But Ophelia, she was a gift, and it took me too long to realize."

John stopped to sip on a strong substance in his large burgundy mug. In the few moments of silence, Harry recalled very vaguely about a woman Lia had mentioned a few times named Primrose, assuming that was her late aunt.

"It didn't last long though. The first month she was back everything was going smoothly. Soon Lia started wakin' me up screamin' in her sleep. The last few weeks I barely saw the girl. She was out walking those trails again, or had herself locked in her room….and then Monday came. I was out working on my truck and we could hear the explosions all the way out here. Lia immediately came running onto the porch and took off sprinting toward the black smoke in the sky. All she said was 'See ya later, Uncle John.'

The man paused bunching his hand on a pile of newspaper collecting dust on an end table.

"The next time I saw her she was laying on metal slab in the hospital downtown. Her lips were blue, and she was covered in black soot from head to toe. Paramedics said that the impact of the blast killed her nearly instantly."

The details began ripping Harry's insides apart, and the twisted look on his face gave Lia's uncle a hint to stop talking about it.

"You kids are welcome to sleep in her bedroom tonight. I would offer you a bed of my own if I had one, but this here couch is where I rest my head." John gestured to the worn flattened couch cushions.

The three exited the conversation and found a quaint black hallway with only one door connecting to it. Hermione and Ron let Harry take the lead, whereas he really had to work the tarnished handle to get the door lock to crack open. A rush of lilac scent came billowing toward Harry, and for a second, Harry's mind freed itself from the calamity. The room was bigger than the living area and the first thing that caught the trio's attention was the expected amount of plants in Lia's bedroom. Her bed was large and unmade, with a purple palmette style comforter dangling from the edge. There were more busy patterned shawls tacked up against on wall of her room for what they assumed was a cheap way of decorating. A desk was on the far wall, sitting to the left of an open window where Harry found the source of the fragrance that was overpowering the room.

A row of lilac bushes lined the edge of the cabin where Lia's room was, including the one that blocked the entire view of the window and nearly growing inside of the room. An object similar to a lab rack was pushed against the wall with vials filled with cloudy liquid labeled lilac oil. Among it was other tins and recycled bottles with labels of products that Lia must have made herself out of the abundant plant residing outside her window. Harry couldn't help himself and lifted one of the corked vials and placed it inside of his bag, hoping that the scent would lift his spirit in times of despair.

No one mentioned anything, but Harry wasn't quite aware of the poverty level Lia lived in when she home for the summers in her tiny log cabin, and this trip was an eye opener.

Hermione sifted through Lia's books, wondering if her friend had any additional information about Horcruxes in one of her American Wizarding history books on the large handcrafted shelf. Ron nearly dozed off with his back resting against Lia's bed as he watched Hermione's eyes scan through the pages. Harry, on the other hand, laid face up staring at Lia's ceiling admiring a mural painting of the moon and stars directly above her pillow.

"Alohamora" Hermione whispered, unlocking a rather large drawer on Lia's desk.

Hermione softly gasped as nearly her entire arm disappeared into the light colored desk drawer, sinking down so far that her shoulder touched the edge. Harry watched as Hermione pulled about a dozen racks of tiny phials containing liquids of nearly any color you could imagine. With that, a thick string bound book was resting on the top of the racks labeled "Key."

_ "_It's all potions." Hermione exclaimed.

She carefully lifted a few vials taking note that a number was etched into the glass, which corresponded to a specific spot in the bound book.

"Number 57- Pepperup Potion. _Note: to reduce amount of steaming side effects, added ¼ tsp of wild Henry's Garnet. " _Hermione read aloud.

"Number 87 – Unnamed Experiment – Ingredients:_ A pinch of powered essence of dittany, half of a crushed common dragon horn, the liquid of 4 squeezed dandelions, add two vials of neem oil. Brew for appx. 15 minutes until daught turns gold. Add a pinch of horehound. Brew 5 minutes. Cool with 2 cups cactus juice. Let completely cool. Effects: Reversal of flesh wound completely without scar. Near regeneration of perfect cells."_

Harry stomach muscles pulled him up from the lying position, "Do you think it works?" Harry asked.

"Lia did spend a lot of her time in Snape's office practicing brewing. It wouldn't shock me that she spent her summers here creating potions and then using that skill at Hogwarts.." Hermione admitted, shoving as many racks of the potions she could inside her bag, along with the guide.

"I feel horrible taking these things, but I know if Lia were with us, she would have done the same." Hermione sighed puling the strings on her bag tight.

"You're right, don't feel bad, Hermione."

Ron's body made a loud thump as the rolled over onto the plush beige rug on the floor, reminding Harry and Hermione that they definitely needed sleep for sun arriving in the morning. Harry nuzzled against the wall, allowing enough space for Hermione on the edge with the limited arrangements for sleeping quarters. It was a calming sleep, almost feeling as if the lavender blanket of Lia's was wrapped around him like her arms back in the Gryffindor tower only a few months earlier.


	3. Chapter 3

The building was white; Harry remembered it to be almost blinding as he hopped down from the bed of Lia's uncle's truck trying to find his footing on the uneven pavement. Harry was dressed in a collared black button up shirt, solid black pants, and for the first time in his life, his hair was completely combed without one hair out of place. The wake started at 11am, but John asked Harry and his friends to come over earlier so that Harry would be allowed the proper uninterrupted time he may need with his deceased lover.

Harry couldn't feel his feet as they scraped against the blacktop, watching the back of Ron's copper hair instead of his surroundings. Hermione braced Harry, with her slender arm tucked underneath his as Ron held the door for the trio to enter the funeral home. It was a private funeral due to the fact that her uncle couldn't afford to have more than a few people attend with a very small amount of time allotted for it.

There wasn't a sound in the air as Harry forced himself to push through the anguish and continue the path down the hallway, searching for the French doors labeled Bloom. A layer of bricks dropped on Harry's chest as he could see from a tiny square window a reflection of Lia's blonde hair lying restlessly in a deep oak casket. Harry's knees gave out, where his friends were quickly there to catch him before they connected with the carpet. Hermione began to wildly sob watching Harry use every ounce of energy to continue walking through the doors and meet Lia. Ron was held back by Hermione grabbing the edge of his shirt, allowing Harry to have a few private moments inside of visitation room.

Harry's stomach touched the edge of the casket, still not allowing him to be as close to Lia as he wanted. It was as if he was staring down at a porcelain doll; taking note of her gray lips painted over with a cherry colored lipstick. Her golden hair was neatly tied back, allowing for her entire face to be completely shown. Harry felt there was a baseball in his throat not allowing him to swallow or breathe. His fingertips violently shook as he reached out to touch Lia's face; the connection was ice cold and Harry couldn't pull a cheerful memory out of the arctic feeling inside of him.

Hermione and Ron enclosed Harry and brought him a full box of tissues, which Harry unknowingly soaked his entire neck with tears running from his eyes. Right before Harry could no longer take the viewing, he noticed now with Lia's hair completely bunched up behind her a mark on her neck that he had never noted before. It had the coloring of a birthmark, but was still almost entirely translucent, which Harry couldn't make certain if it was from the makeup or not. Memories surged through his brain of nearly every single moment with her, but not one could he recall where he was been staring at her neck long enough to remember the mark.

Harry didn't leave much thought on it, his brain was so scrambled at the time for all he knew he could have been imagining Lia's hair color completely wrong. After one final kiss against Lia's freezing forehead, Harry couldn't stand being inside of the stuffy room for even a minute longer. Alone, Harry sat on cement bricks lining the landscaping of the building while waiting for Ron and Hermione to pay their respects. Harry felt desperate, but not as horrible as he expected. That electric buzzing was still causing that feeling of uttering infatuation with the girl still ran rampant through his veins.

Ron assisted Hermione from the swinging glass doors and met Harry in the corner of the parking lot where the three decided that they had already overstayed their welcome in Boulder, Colorado.

* * *

12 Grimmauld Place was the only location that the three could muster to be the safest refuge for the time being. Harry had already been itching to visit there after news of Slytherin's locket possibly being linked with the Black family. Upon entering, Harry had extreme caution, still unaware if Serverus Snape had visited The Order's headquarters since he had murdered Albus. With much surprise, the three storied hidden house had been left untouched, made obvious by the layers of dust covering nearly every object.

Harry retreated into Sirius's bedroom, where he found himself completely vulnerable as he wept into the peak hours of the night.

When morning arrived, Harry found he was the last one to wake while Hermione and Ron had long already been ripping apart the Black house. Hermione was in Regulus' room, shouting Harry's name at the sound of his infamous swagger.

"Harry he had it. Regulus had the locket."

"Where is it now?" Harry demanded, still having cloudy vision from only just waking.

"Well….. Ron bumped into the house elf here… Kreacher. He tried questioning him, but no luck. Obviously he wasn't giving any information away to me … a muggleborn."

"If he's hiding anything, I will get it out of him" Harry barely said before he dashed out the muggy room.

Kreacher had been standing on a stack of thick history books placed on a stool stirring a pot of something fowl smelling. Harry could see the intervals of malicious looks casted in Ron's direction from the tiny elf as he prepared the morning meal.

"Kreacher, there's something about this house, something that I think you know about that I need you to be honest with me about."

"Yes, anything for Master. What must Harry Potter ask of Kreacher?"

"There was something that Regulus had, a locket. A very important locket." Harry explained.

Kreacher hunched farther over the pot, getting less involved in the conversation Harry was asking of him.

"The mudblood asked me about it earlier." Kreacher spat.

"Don't call her that!" Harry boomed.

Kreacher nodded while grabbing a stack of white porcelain bowls from the lowest cabinet on the kitchen floor.

"Master Regulus had the locket, I know which one Master Harry speaks of. Kreacher went with Master Regulus to plant the fake one. But Master Regulus didn't make it back, only Kreacher with the object. Then _he_ stole it."

"Who?!" Harry demanded.

"Mundungus. He came in the night and snatched it."

"I need you to get that back, Kreacher. It is very important that Mundungus does not have that locket."

Kreacher bowed again, and with a snap of his finger apparated from the top of the kitchen counter.

* * *

The three were distant, still not able to shake a collective feeling of a looming doom around Grimmauld Place. After such a traumatic event, the last thing to help with healing was to sit in a musty house with every single blind tightly shut and most of the color scheme following black patterns.

A crash coming from the rear of the house caused the three to defensively grab their wands and listen for further action. Screaming shrilled throughout the halls, along with banging noises and sounds of destruction.

"Get this thing off of me!" A voice screeched.

Hermione took the lead investigating the noise and came upon Kreacher with his legs wrapped around the shoulders of a woman who was struggling to get him off of her.

"Get off!" She screamed again, now pealing the house elf off of her.

The ends of three wands pointed straight in the woman's direction, forcing her to stop dead in her tracks and not dare move a muscle. The woman was barely five feet tall, with copper hair brighter than Ron's, which was styled strangely underneath a zip-up sweater hood. The side of her head was shaved, which was barely noticeable by how much of her hair was tucked away. She nervously moved her eyes between the three of them, waiting for a green light to blast her away.

"Who are you?!" Ron yelled.

"Who are _you_?!" She retorted.

The trio wasn't expecting her to blast back with such a quick response.

"Last time I checked, I wasn't the one who plucked you out of a dead sleep and brought you to a place you'd never seen before with three wands pointed at you." The woman sassed.

"She's got the locket." Kreacher hissed.

The woman's face drained of color, and she started backing up until her backside bumped a leaning tower of iron pots.

"Look, you guys can have this back. I-I just overheard some guy blabbing on about how much it was worth, and I've been low on cash so I swiped it. I was planning on selling it any day now."

"So, you're not a Death Eater? You're not on his side?" Ron questioned her.

"A Death Eater? No, why would you ask that?"

"Never mind." Harry urged Ron to not open his mouth anymore.

"What's your name?" Harry diverted the conversation.

"Perry." The girl answered.

"What's yours?"

The girl standing before Harry hadn't given him an untrustworthy vibe, but due to the nature of the times, Harry couldn't afford to be giving out his real name.

"Teddy." Harry spouted out, using the first name that could come to his head.

"Well, Teddy, if you're going to lie, you might want to get better at it. Look someone dead in the eyes while you're telling it, I promise it's more convincing."

She inched toward Harry in a passive manner, allowing more light for the features of both of them to become more apparent.

"I know who you are. With the undesirable posters slapped on every corner of the world, do you really think I wouldn't recognize you, Harry Potter?"

Harry inched back, taking notice more of her pale skin, light freckles and emerald eyes staring back at him. If he hadn't known any better, he could have guessed her as a Weasley.

"Don't look so worried, Harry. I am a Potter ally. If I wasn't I wouldn't be in the predicament I am right now, staring at you people if I wasn't."

"Want to elaborate?" Hermione advised.

"You know that whole bit about lying? Let's just say, I didn't steal the locket because I needed cash. I coincidentally came across this man with the locket, heard him say how the 'Dark Lord would benefit from it.'

"Mundungus is an oaf and it wasn't hard to weasel the object from him. I was on my way to toss it in River Tyne before this nitwit jumped on my back." She scoffed at Kreacher.

"Why do you care so much about the Dark Lord?" Hermione drilled her.

"You ever lost someone, girl? You ever watch your mother, father, sisters…. Fiancé be blasted away in one fell swoop? "

"Rowle, Dolohov, Carrow. Orders from the Dark Lord and my entire life was taken from me."

A ruffling in the background caused the group to convene in a cluster toward the back of the kitchen.

"Did anyone see you guys? Kreacher, did you tell anyone?" Harry whispered.

Without any time for Kreacher to respond, the west wall was blasted into numerous large chunks revealing three cloaked figures. Harry felt a rage inside of him; an anger that had broken the gates after staring down into Lia's casket knowing that it was the Death Eaters alone who caused his pain. Harry's wand met his fingertips as he began detonating curses in their direction, using anything from Sectumsempra to a spell that Harry didn't even have a name for which blasted flaming arrows into the dust cloud. A vibrating buzzed in Harry's fingers, he knew the spells that could take them all out, and the wrath inside of him wanted to use them. If the green blasted from his wand, Harry knew that Lia would never forgive him, so he refrained.

Hermione wasted no time grabbing free hands, allowing for the new visitor to apparate along with them. A whirling sensation sent them flying through a vortex of colors ending with a violent slam against cold solid dirt. Harry could hear ear-piercing screams coming from only a few meters away from him, where he saw Ron mangled amongst the forest floor.

Another redhead was leaning over him, muttering words under her breath holding her wand against Ron's pale skin.

"DITTANY! WHERE IS THE DITTANY?!" The newcomer screamed off in Hermione's direction.

With her arm completely sunk into her purple bag, Hermione pulled out a tiny vial and started dropping clear beads of potion on Ron's shoulder.

"Vulnera Sanentur…. Vulnera sanetur" The girl whispered.

Ron's skin returned back into its pale form with barely the remains of a scar sealing up the wounds.

"We have to keep on moving." The woman urged.

"He's still so weak!" Hermione pleaded.

"Harry, we need to be out of this county by nightfall."

Harry knew she was right, but could see the condition of his best friend wasn't even close to be ready for hiking through another forest.

"It's alright guys, I can make it for a little bit." Ron slurred as he sat from the leaf pile.

"We will walk until dusk, then I can take my rest. She's right, Death Eaters are going to be able to track us if we don't keep on moving."

Hermione loomed in the rear with Ron bracing him along the countryside as the group continued hiking through the uninhabited forest. Harry remained cautious of the girl walking next to him, still with her hood completely covering her head.

"You said your name was Perry?" Harry asked, not being able to stand the silence any longer.

"Perissa. But I prefer Perry." She replied.

"That spell you used back there, it was pretty quick on your toes…."

"I've been picking fights with Death Eaters the past 6 months, you think I've gotten out unscathed?" She chuckled, lifting her shirt revealing a white scar starting at her hip running to the top of her ribcage.

Harry couldn't help but notice the ample amount of tattoos the girl had inked on her body. Some of them were traditional youth style tattoos, but others were almost in the same nature of the one Sirius acquired in Azkaban.

Ron started collapsing after around two hours of shuffling through twigs and mud, where the group felt comfortable enough to pitch a tent. Hermione tended to Ron while Harry was occupied putting up the tent that had been packed away in the unusual bag. Perry disappeared for only a few minutes, and returned with her hood down, now completely revealing her bizarre haircut, but also her fair features. She passed over a few green roots to Ron that still had clumps of dirt hanging from the area pulled from the Earth.

"Eat around the rubbish, it'll help with some of the nausea I am sure you are feeling." Perry offered.

By the time Ron gulped down one tiny bit of the fresh plant, Harry was already urging to help Hermione drag Ron in between the flaps of the tent into a comfortable bunk. Harry was slightly worried about the fact that Perry didn't join them inside, so he exited the tent and found the girl with her back against a marton oak tree. As he approached her, she didn't cease in twiddling an ivory wand in between her slender fingers.

"It's a little cold outside, don't you want to come in?"

"Someone has to stay out here and guard…. Besides, you guys don't trust me, and Ron needs to rest, not to sleep with one eye open."

"You've been trustworthy so far." Harry expressed, pulling up a seat next to her.

"Don't be naïve, Harry. Your trusting heart can lose this war for everyone. "

"My trusting heart is what has gotten my by so far." Harry smiled.

Perry's wand was cracked and more worn than any wand Harry had seen thus far in his travels.

"Rough go?" Harry gestured toward it.

"Not mine. My wand got swiped in Germany three months ago while fighting off some Dark Lord followers. This is some snatcher's wand."

"Germany? How did you end up there?"

"It's where I came from. Well, not born there. I graduated from Durmstrang, but I was born over here. I actually started off at Hogwarts, but my parents transferred us over after dad landed a solid job. So after I had nothing left to stay for in Germany, I came back over here, maybe looking to find some Potter allies."

"Ah." Harry added, with his mind whizzing through the day's events.

"You okay?" Perry inquired.

"It's been a long day." Harry exhaled.

"Go ahead inside, get some rest. You looked wiped."

Harry did as the girl suggested and slithered his way back into the tent without much noise, locating one of the empty bunks. His fingers gripped onto a scratchy cotton burlap colored blanket and let the day melt away into blackness.


	4. Chapter 4

Weeks passed on where the trio and their new companion spent time tracking through remote forests while contemplating how to destroy the locket.

"Horcrux? What in the hell is a horcrux?"Perry asked, as she walked at a fast pace next to Ron.

"It's an object filled with Dark Magic. It can only be created by committing and unspeakable act where part of your soul is ripped and latches on to a nearby object."

"So… you can't die if that object still intact?"

"Exactly." Ron affirmed.

"Have you tried casting spells, smashing it, burning it?"

Harry whipped around and brought the group to a halting stop, tossing the locket into a pile of withered leaves.

"Go ahead and try." Harry curtly demanded.

"I didn't mean to offend anyone." Perry cowered.

After the locket had left Harry's neck he felt as if someone had pulled a plug on all of his frustrations and instantly his mood seemed to improve.

"Sorry about that. The locket causes a bit of a bad mood. But in all seriousness, you can give it a go if you'd like."

The four traded off casting destructive spells on the locket, and all it did was begin to squirm and start giving off a screeching noise. All attempts failed and Hermione scooped up the locket and dipped her head into the silver chain while Harry wandered off into the distance. Perry followed, able to hear a soft trickling stream in the direction that Harry stumbled off into. His face was shallowly placed in a clear brook separating two large redwood trees. A tiny vial slid from Harry's sleeve and as he pulled his face from the water, the vial met his nose as he inhaled a strong whiff of aroma.

"You okay, kid?" Perry asked, rinsing her hands in the same chilly water.

"I just wish I knew how to destroy the damn thing." Harry scowled.

"Shoving that tube up your nose isn't going to help."

Harry tried not to be rude, knowing that the girl hadn't had a clue of what kind of cathartic experience the lilac tube brought to him.

"The smell of what's inside this has gotten me through the day." Harry retorted, corking the tiny tube back up and carefully placing it in his sweater pocket.

"Some kind of drug?" Perry pepped up.

"No." Harry abruptly answered.

"Sorry, touchy subject. It's cool." She turned away from Harry, ready to head back to camp.

"It's the perfume that my girlfriend wears. For a while, only the memory of her scent was what pushed me to sit up out of bed and convince myself to continue to fight. I was lucky enough to get physical reminder of why this war is important to me."

"Harry-"

"She's dead. Some people get to give their lover a kiss on the cheek every single morning and that's what give them their motivation." Harry's attention veered off onto Hermione cupping Ron in a golden and scarlet stitched blanket by a small smoldering fire.

"I've got this vial."

"I can empathize with that. Just one kiss from him, and I might be able to smile more often or even have a good laugh. But Harry, in your eyes, they are so _strong _and full with passion. Don't lose that."

Days continued to blend together as the leaves broke free from their brown branches and began decaying against the hardened ground. Nights became colder and only mirrored the trail of information that Harry had received about Voldemort's horcruxes. Harry noticed the change is his friends as they became more recluse, mindlessly following him between the cracks of trees or over the rubble of abandonment. Perry was the only one still able to spark conversation between them, asking about Hogwarts, family life, and even chocolate frogs on the trolley.

* * *

A tiny town had slipped its way in between a patch of two forests inviting the group with the swirling aromas escaping through the stained glass windows of a nearby tavern. Harry immediately slipped his infamous cloak around his shoulders, while Ron and Hermione slithered in the shadows lagging Perry. Their bellies ached for anything other than the stale goods they had packed along in Hermione's special bag. Four sets of eyes peered into the quaint pub, noticing that it had more people inside of it than the town would have given a clue to. Hermione jumped and covertly pointed to the large round table toward the back.

"Look!" She exclaimed.

Dean Thomas was sitting amongst a table of men and a goblin with empty mugs of frothy substances grouped in a large mass in the center.

"What is Dean doing with Goblins?" Harry wondered.

A chubby woman balanced two shepherd's pies in her palms and served them at a table within eyeshot of the group. The all groaned with distain, and knew that if they didn't keep their energy up, this quest was going to get unbearable.

"I'll go in and grab us some food. Do you want me to check in on your friends?" Perry asked.

The look from the trio answered her question without words being spoken, and she lifted up her ebony hood and ducked into the front door.

Harry watched as she ordered with the rosy-cheeked woman and took the table next to Dean and his company while leaning into the shadows.

"I don't know if I trust her." Ron bluntly admitted.

"Ron! Where did that come from?" Hermione gasped.

"She just happens to have a horcrux because she overheard Mundungus talking about _you know who_. Then, after we kidnap her, she just willingly decides to travel the countryside with us and put herself in danger. I'm not buying it."

"Ron, there are a lot of people who support the cause. Could you imagine being a rogue Potter ally, and then just happening to fall into the lap of Harry? There is still good left in this world." Hermione strongly stated.

"I just don't like the way she looks at you, Harry. I mean she walks around with her black hood up like some new-age Death Eater anyway."

"Don't just curse her yet, Ron." Harry assured Ron.

Twenty minutes later the copper haired woman joined them with a bag full of hot dishes ranging from soups to meats to even desserts. The taste of mashed potatoes in Harry's mouth was near therapeutic seeing as that his tongue had nearly forgotten the taste of warm food.

"Is Dean the tall one?" Perry asked while gnawing on a dinner roll.

"Yeah." Ron responded, barely paying attention to anything other than his food.

"Well, he was talking about a sword. A sword of Gryffindor, that had supposedly been faked and put in Lestrange's vault."

The mention of her name made Harry's blood boil.

"The real sword location is unknown. The goblin in there that goes by Griphook confirmed the story."

The night temperature began to quickly descend and the group couldn't bear another minute hiking in the bitterness. Camp was up in less than five minutes, and for safety the group only lit a few lanterns knowing that wizards were in the area. Perry began fluffing up the area that was going to be where she slept while Hermione paced and Ron and Harry sat silently in their bunks. There weren't many nights where Harry and Perry were in the tent at the same time, and especially not during a time of rest. Harry studied her; seeing that she was very small, shorter than Hermione. The half of her head that had the most copper hair wasn't very long, and she had tattoos starting at one on her neck following all the way down to her thigh. There was a beauty to her, a pale innocence that had been corrupted by her embellishments, which Harry didn't find unattractive.

"AH!" Hermione yelled, sending everyone flying out of their seats.

"It all makes sense. It makes sense!" Hermione started chanting to herself.

"Want to tell me about it?" Harry jumped down from his bunk.

"I was wondering why the hell a group of people would be caring about the sword of Gryffindor, or more importantly why Bellatrix would want it in her vault."

Hermione searched for one of her books and paged through it while a crowd was forming around her, eagerly waiting for more information.

"The sword of Gryffindor only takes in what makes it stronger, right? Harry, you were able to destroy Tom Riddle's diary with a Basalik fang. What did you kill the basalik with?!"

"The sword." Harry replied.

"So… the sword has basalik venom within it?" Perry inquired.

"Exactly." Hermione commended.

"Harry, if we could get the sword we can destroy horcruxes!" Hermione cheered.

Ron was the only individual not amused by the new discovery as he slouched off toward the corner's shadows.

"I'm not quite understanding why you're all excited." Ron scoffed.

"Ron?" Hermione inched toward him.

"The sword of Gryffindor could be able to spin gold, but still has no use if we don't actually have it. Just realizing what it can do doesn't make it any more useful!" He spat.

"But Ron, it gives us a goal-"

"Harry, you're being delusional! Dumbledore left you with nothing. There is nothing!"

"You can get off it, Ron." Harry demanded with a slight irritation.

"And _you_…. I see the way you look at her. How you two whisper behind my back. The chosen one could have anyone; hell, a girl right in front of his face, but of course, you're probably snogging Hermione right under my nose."

"How dare you?!" Harry yelled, forcefully stepping toward his best friend.

"Take it off, Ron! Take the horcrux off your neck!" Hermione pleaded.

Harry and Ron stood off, stepping in a slow circle in the center of the tent.

"Knock it off!" Perry screamed, ripping the locket from Ron's fingertips.

"Bunch of rubbish." Ron muttered as he fled from the tent.

Hermione chased after him, where only the muffled pleas could be heard until Hermione returned with her face glistening with tears.

"He's gone." She whimpered as she calmly set up her bed and suffocated the flame of her lantern.

Harry's bunk was far from listening distance to Hermione's due to the sheer size of the interior of the tent. Perry began bundling back up, grabbing her wand, which was now split so terribly that it was hanging together by barely a thread of wood.

"I'll go take watch." She said, zipping up the same plain black hoodie.

"Nah, I think we will be okay tonight. I think you should stay inside." Harry urged while rifling through his sack.

Perry's wand was pathetic, and in the pit of Harry's stomach he knew that the extra wand in his bag would benefit everyone's safety. The thought of temporarily surrendering it was painful, and even while he lifted the object from the darkness he couldn't help but feel his chest tighten.

"That wand is so dangerous I'm surprised it hasn't blown one of us up." Harry joked.

"It's a pitiful wand. It's barely been able to even perform lumos lately." She giggled while demonstrating a lightning bug strength light.

Harry's fingertips tingled as he lifted one of his prized possessions from his bag completely and offered it to Perry.

"You can use this until we find you a better wand. It belonged to a brilliant witch, so I promise it wont crack." Harry extended the object.

"It's a hippy wand." Perry commented on the excessive amount of forest elements etched into it.

"But, I can dig it. Thanks Harry. I promise I'll take extra good care of it." She assured after carefully slipping the wand up her sleeve.

"Even though you don't want me doing guard watch tonight, I'm going to do a quick perimeter check. Don't wait up." Perry concluded, while grabbing a few more objects from her bag before she slipped through the tent opening.

* * *

Besides the gray atmosphere, the next month of traveling was dreary with the new arrangement of characters involved. Hermione spent ample time wandering by herself in the lead of the group, randomly leaving objects against trees, or occasionally allowing herself to have conversation about her thoughts on where to go next. Harry had a bit of a challenge have no other human to offset the awkwardness between him and Perry due to Hermione's distance. At times, she was the only one he would talk to for endless hours. Her personality wasn't like Harry's normal friends. Her outlook on life was more like a Slytherin, but still had the intentions of a Gryffindor. Her stories revolved around a bit of a shady life, focusing a lot on a past of reckless behavior, but not in the same recklessness of Harry and his friend's heroism. The Durmstrang lineage ran strong in her, regardless of the small time she spent at Hogwarts.

"Do you have any idea whatsoever where this damn sword might be?" Perry asked Harry after nearly tripping over a stray log.

"I've been trying to narrow down places where the sword might be hiding. I think I might have a few ideas." Harry said conservatively.

"I've been trying to think, as well." Hermione added, now walking in a line with the two.

"I think if Dumbledore would have left it anywhere, he would've put it where it all started." Harry admitted.

"Godric's Hollow. No Harry, we can't" Hermione instantly fired back.

"What's Godric's Hollow?" Perry asked.

"It's where I was born. It's where he killed my parents."

"Why haven't we gone there yet?" Perry inquired.

"Because he would expect us to go there. There's probably an ambush waiting for us there at all times…. But…."

"But what?"

"I have been thinking we would have to go there eventually." Hermione acknowledged.

"It's settled then. Let's get ready."

Hermione's face wasn't completely convinced that going to Harry's hometown was the best idea, but reluctantly she joined hands with Harry and Perry and apparated away regardless.

The sun was just barely peeking over the horizon as their feet slammed against the ground. A light dusting of white snow had covered the ground, giving the quaint town a rather picturesque adornment. It was a strange feeling for Harry as he shuffled around the streets of Godric's Hollow, an inborn instinct led him around the streets straight to the ruins of what was once a house.

The front door still stood, but the entire roof was caved in along with bowing walls that were extremely deteriorated by time. Harry's heart crumbled along with what remained of his childhood memories. Across the way Harry noticed a brass statue intersecting his view of a minuscule cemetery. The girls followed Harry as he walked to the statue, which focused to be James and Lily Potter holding tiny baby with big smiles molded into their faces. Harry could feel a fountain of emotion spouting within him as he imagined what it would be like if they were still here today.

A singsong familiar tune played out of a local church, where Hermione quickly after gripped Harry's arm.

"It's Christmas Eve, Harry." She nuzzled her face into his shoulder.

Harry disappeared into the gloomy cemetery and paced through the frozen grounds, reading through the eroded tombstones in hopes of finding his parents. It was obvious when Harry stopped in his tracks and started wiping his eyes what had happened. Unexpectedly, Harry felt an arm around his side pulling him in close minutes before Hermione even noticed Harry had stopped pacing.

"It's okay, Harry. They loved you, remember that." Perry whispered into Harry's ear.

"The tone of her voice was more soothing than Harry could ever had imagined, and it actually brought his nerves down back to near normal. A burst inside of him caused his two arms to pull the girl in close and completely lose his composure into her neck.

"It never gets easier does it?" He whimpered.

She broke the connection and allowed to Hermione to take her place as she faded off down one of the abandoned side streets. Harry's time for grievance was cut short at the sight of an old woman, now clearing coming into view as Bathilda Bagshot. A sharp memory reminded Harry that Bathilda was one of Dumbledore's close friends and she may have been looming in the shadows with information.

Perry watched as Hermione and Harry disappeared with the old woman as she sat perched on a bench with a cigarette hanging out of her mouth. Only a few minutes after the pair disappeared into the cottage did she notice wild flashes of spells coming from all windows of the house causing a firework display of color. A deep emerald snake could be seen from the upper bedroom of the two-story house, where Perry could see Harry battling in the tiny space. Hermione casted a spell that blasted out the upstairs window, where Harry could now see down that Perry had her wand pointed at the snake from an outside angle. Perry used a second blasting curse, causing the snake to rebound against the south wall.

Hermione felt Harry pull her from the ragged blasted wall into the openness of the air, waiting for Perry to leap from the fluffy snow and connect for a successful apparation. As they were being whirled away, Harry caught a blurry glimpse of Voldemort standing on the edge of the frayed boards. For a moment, before he slammed into the ground, there was a self reflection of how ignorant it was of him to step foot into Godric's Hollow. It was a sure thing that Voldemort was going to pop up there, or that there was going to be some fatal attack planned, but Harry's inner desires to connect to his parents over rid that. Losing so many close to him, caused Harry to feel certain emptiness, and connecting with the lost souls of his parents helped bury the feeling.

One of their minds led the apparation to the Forest of Dean, where the three decided to lay low for a few days. Actually having eye contact with his enemy caused Harry to sit and strategize more instead of having precipitate reactions. Hermione sat with Harry paging through of few of the books that would have been on top of her desk right around this time in the classrooms of Hogwarts. The two watched Perry wander around in between the trees of the forest, picking up forest entities erratically.

"This entire time we've been traveling with her, you've spoken to her only a handful of times. What's going on with you, Hermione?"

"That's not true! She asked me for a few books and I gladly gave them to her…" Hermione defensively answered.

Harry didn't have to respond, but only send her a condescending glare forcing her to squirm in her chair.

"Alright. There's a feeling, Harry. You know its there. It's like she creeps around us, almost like a shadow sometimes. She's told us her story, but it feels like there's more missing behind her eyes. Ron was right. I've tried and tried, but I just have a hard time trusting her." Hermione whispered.

"I feel like we've only scratched the surface with Perry. But I trust her, I don't know why, but I do."

Perry moseyed back toward their direction and began munching on a handful of stale bread resting by their fire. Hermione took her studies to a more quiet area, leaving Harry to sit on the far edge of camp barely joining Perry's company. She shot Harry sideways glances making it more difficult each second for him to pretend like he was enjoying moments of solitude.

"There's a couple more bites of bread over here if you want it. I haven't seen you actually eat in a few days."

"Ah, yeah. I haven't been all that hungry." He said, crossing over camp.

As Perry was reaching up with the small morsel of white bread, Harry's foot caught on to the edge of her bag causing him to nearly face plant into a thick puddle of mud. Luckily, the rough edge of a stump broke his fall and Harry was able to seat himself without injury. Before the bread met Harry's lips, his breath was stolen away from an image glinting from Perry's bag. A glossy image of Harry and Lia at the night of Slughorn's Christmas party showed the two of them waltzing and turning for a quick photo. His heart stopped and he felt all warmth drain from his body as he recalled the moment.

"Where did you get that?" Harry snapped.

"Get what? The bread? From the tent-"

"No, not the bread. The picture." Harry interjected with a dark loom over him.

The attention of both of them was gravitated into the tiny dark slit in between the zipper of Perry's bag.

"I-I, it must've been in one of the books Hermione gave to me!" She stuttered snatching the picture from her bag and handing it over to Harry.

"I swear I didn't even know it was in there! I'm sorry!" Perry exclaimed.

Harry didn't waste his words to reply, he only focused his energy on the photo, which ignited flames inside of him. That was the night he told Lia he loved her, but also the night that, in hindsight, could have foiled Snape's murder plot.

"She's stunning." Harry murmured.

"That's her isn't it? The one that left the sadness in your heart."

A few tears that left Harry's eyes answered that question for her.

"So, I am assuming this wand is hers, and the wolf that wanders around at night is hers too?"

"Apollo." Harry assured her.

Harry escaped back to his bed without eating for about the third night in a row, and instead tacked the photo to the cloth on the top of his bunk. In his dreams, Harry could recall the feel of her fabric dress, the way her lips felt when he kissed them on Slughorn's balcony, and the way his heart felt when he was able to say the words ' I love you.'


	5. Chapter 5

The passing weeks only brought more Death Eaters around the area causing the group to heighten their security and have someone on watch at all times. This didn't allow for much talking between the three of them due to the three shifts they had nonverbally created. One would take guard watch, one would take their shift sleeping, and the other would prepare food, gather supplies or do research. Perry would willingly go into towns on the outskirts of the forest to pick up Daily Prophet's for Hermione and Harry, as well as, picking up better ingredients for cooking meals. The articles that were being published after Albus's death were disturbing to Harry. Many of his headmaster's flaws were brought to the surface post mortem were Harry felt like such a miniscule excerpt into Dumbledore's life.

* * *

A soft light could be seen from the inside of the terrycloth tent from Harry's darkened view of the outside environment. Both Perry and Hermione had decided to crawl into their beds and take the night to sleep while Harry sat on a patch of blanket while keeping watch with Lia's wand. Harry couldn't feel a connection to her wand like he did to his own, but his wand laid in pieces inside of Hermione's bag after the night in Godric's Hollow. Apollo joined Harry on the frosty night, pacing the perimeter and reporting back to Harry expected a motion of a pat on top of the patronus's head. A second illumination off in the distance caused Apollo to jump to his feet and haunch toward the image in the back of the tree lines. A timid doe loomed along the distant tree line, coaxing Harry following the obvious trail it had left for him.

* * *

The jarring chirps of a group of pheasants roused Hermione from her sleep noticing she was the only one still nestled in her bed. Harry's voice was distinct in the crowd of voices muddled outside the flap of the tent. A blinding flash of copper was the first pigment Hermione saw as she exited the tent, automatically assumed to be Perry's.

"Then I see Harry flopping around underneath the ice, and that's when I jumped in." Ron proudly boasted, now seeing noticing Hermione's presence.

A collective gulp could have been heard from the three waiting for Hermione's response.

"Ronald Weasley." Hermione spat.

Ron had a dumbfounded look on his face watching his disheveled morning risen girlfriend glaring back at him.

"It's been weeks and you just see me with that _stupid look_ on your damn face." She raged as she charged down the tiny hill to meet with Ron.

"I-I-I" Ron tried to respond as Hermione shoved at his chest.

"Damn you, Ronald. I could seriously curse you right now!" She screamed reaching into her pockets attempting to find her wand.

"Hermione, he destroyed a horcrux." Perry interjected from underneath her hood.

Hermione took a minute to see that Harry was soaked and there was a gash across his neck with dried crimson blood around the edges. Perry took the brief moment to cross the grounds with her wand pointing to Harry's neck while she recited a few healing spells. Harry also felt his clothes become hot and the frozen wet material became much lighter as the spell began to dry them.

"As I was saying. Harry nearly naked in that frozen pond, completely stopped moving when I jumped in after him. That horcrux was so tight around his neck, I couldn't tell if his lips were blue from the cold or the suffocation. The sword of Gryffindor ended up in my hands and I lifted Harry from the water and well the rest came naturally. I smashed the locket with the sword and then Harry and I headed back to camp."

"It's all true." Harry added, wiping his neck with a spare towel.

Harry made an obvious gesture with his eyes for Ron to take a moment with Hermione away from the group.

"The deluminator just lit up one day and-" Ron explained to Hermione as their voices faded off into the distance.

"Was that story true, Harry?" Perry inquired.

"Yeah Ron saved me and destroyed the Horcrux, none of it was made up." Harry answered, now examining the woundless area on his neck.

"Wow, the chosen one not being the hero for a day. Isn't that a shocker?" She chuckled.

"The chosen one? I haven't been called that in a while."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend." She awkwardly apologized.

"No, I'm not offended." Harry laughed.

"You're laughing? That's new." Perry furrowed her brow as she began to build a small fire.

"We just destroyed a horcrux and it feels fantastic. Though, I did have to watch myself make out with my best friend, which was entirely weird in itself." Harry giggled while he scooted on to the same log as Perry.

"Oh?" She curtly replied.

"When the horcrux is vulnerable, it will do anything in it's power to avoid being destroyed. Ron was holding the sword, so it projected a rather disturbing image of Hermione and I doing some pretty raunchy things." Harry explained.

"That's never actually happened though, has it?" Perry urged.

"No way. She's my sister." Harry assured, pulling a leather bound journal from his bag.

"What's that?" Perry asked with a mouthful of food.

"It's a journal." Harry stated the obvious.

"I know, I meant I've never seen it before."

"Today is a good day to make an entry, I think." Harry explained as he scratched down a small lively paragraph.

* * *

The night's chill overpowered the afternoon more quickly than the four had expected and after their pathetic supper, they headed into their tent where the tension between Ron and Hermione had clearly lifted as they coddled each other on Hermione's bunk. Perry and Harry shot each other smirks as they watched the two whisper into each other's ears; it warmed Harry's heart to see the light ignite back into Hermione's eyes as Ron brushed his fingers through her hair.

"I think we should visit Xenophillius Lovegood." Hermione blurted out, propping herself up on Ron's lap.

"Why is that?" Harry wondered, trying to distract his attention away from Perry changing into her nightclothes.

"These marks keep on popping up all over. " Hermione shoved her book of Beedle and the Bard in Harry's face.

"There was one on the grave's I was looking at in Godric's Hollow too. Ignotus Peverell's grave had it, and I found it rather odd. Mr. Lovegood was wearing this symbol around his neck at Bill and Fleur's wedding."

"I think we should go see Mr. Lovegood then." Ron bravely stated.

Harry laughed, "Of course, Hermione, if you think it's best then let's do it."

The lantern on the left of the room quickly went out soon after their agreement leaving Harry and Perry sitting on the edge of the scratchy blanket Harry had lying off the side of his bed.

"Up early again then, I take it?" Perry oddly joked with Harry.

"I'm sure Hermione will have us up before the sun." Harry confessed.

"Alright, off to my corner then!" She hopped up from the bunk and began walking away.

"Wait…" Harry stopped her.

"Would you mind… spending the night in my bunk tonight?" Harry shyly asked.

"Harry…" Perry slurred.

"Nothing weird, I swear. It's just been a long time since there's been a warm body next to me and tonight I could just use that boost." Harry confessed.

"Alright." She hesitated as he slid back onto Harry's bed, trying to position herself toward the edge.

Harry felt nothing toward the girl, but she had been kind thus far and both of them obviously were starving for some sort of attention.

A clear hipbone could be felt in Harry's forearm as he wrapped it over Perry's waist, pulling her in closer to him. She was so thin it was hard for Harry to even cuddle her due to the length of his arms. Nevertheless, warmth could still be radiated from her tiny body regardless of the lack of body fat.

Their cozy embrace soon ensued a light snore from Harry's mouth as he comfortably slept through most of the night. Harry dreamt of wonderful memories back at Hogwarts until a violent jolt woke him from his slumber. The covers went flying through the air as Harry watched a flash of copper flash through the opening of the tent. Harry felt no pain, so he was unsure if he was cursed or not, so he took the opportunity to chase after Perry. Harry could see her pale skin many meters ahead as she tossed through a bag far on the edge of camp.

"Damn it! Damn it! I knew it was a bad idea!" She yelled hysterically.

Harry approached with extreme caution unsure of how the woman reacted, or if she was looking for her plan to murder him or something along the malicious lines.

"Perry?" Harry called, watching more of her copper locks fly through the air.

"No, no, no no…." Her voice whimpered as she pulled her head into her knees.

"Perry, you're in your sleep shorts and it's freezing outside. Come on, come back inside." He urged.

"No, Harry go away. Please go away." She demanded through her tears.

"Perry, what is going on?" Harry asked, pulling on her cold naked arm.

"Don't!" She screamed, smacking Harry's hand away.

Harry was more interested than ever to see what had triggered Perry's sudden attack of madness, so he lowered himself down to the forest floor and tried to pry her hands from her face. Soon it was becoming more obvious that something was wrong. Her hair was still bright red and naked on her left temple, but the strands were bouncy and much longer. Harry noticed that her body no longer had any tattoos, but only translucent pale skin and it had stretched out almost a foot.

"I have to go, I have to go…." She wept.

"Don't you dare." Harry demanded.

In the moment, everything all became so clear before she even lifted her head from her legs and Harry felt a wave of tranquility rush over him.

"Lia… "


	6. Chapter 6

After a night of convincing her to stay at camp, Harry was finally able to let his emotions run rampant while him and Lia sat across from each other on two half logs closer to the tent. The sun had barely risen, and now all of Lia's memorable features had been much more noticeable with the sunlight being a useful tool. Although still curvy, Harry could notice a massive change in Lia's size to where she was almost skeleton-like. Her bountiful blonde hair was now a coppery-red, the same color as it had been the night before. Her face was more mature, with her cheekbones appearing higher and more sunken in.

"All this time keeping my composure, and I let my heart ruin it all." Lia began to weep again.

A scream came from the flaps of the tent as Hermione discovered her best friend wearing the clothes and the same hair color as the stranger that had been traveling with them for the past month.

"Lia?!" She shrieked again as she ran toward her friend and squeezed her with every ounce of energy inside her.

"This can't be true! This can't be happening! We saw you dead!" Hermione was riotously crying.

Once Ron was able to calm Hermione down, the three of them were circled around her, waiting for the explanation of how the dead was able to resurrected.

"It's been rough, you guys. I can't say that this has been a walk in the park for me. I lost my identity, I have been completely alone hunting down Death Eaters until now, and then I had to stare into your eyes as someone else, Harry."

"How… why?" were the only words Harry was able to get out of his throat as he still floated in a state of shock.

"To be honest, some of this process started back at Hogwarts." She stared off behind her friends.

"Snape and Dumbledore knew that something was going to happen. They weren't sure what, or when, but they knew. Many of my meetings with Dumbledore consisted of scenarios or different spells the Death Eaters used in the past. Not one lesson prepared me for this."

She paused, leaving the trio on the edge of their seats.

"That day I left Hogwarts, I had no idea who any of you were. I left the castle as some traveler, and that's what I believed for a few weeks. Soon my dreams were becoming _too_ odd. The boy who I thought I only met once in that hospital wing was in almost every dream with his friends. Names of everyone were coming to me and I began writing them down like characters in a story. Then somehow my lights would turn off when I wanted them to, or I would even be able to float a few items around my room. Then Snape came…."

Hermione lightly gasped again, and Lia could immediately see the three tense up.

"I didn't know who he was, but he dropped off a book named Advanced Potions, which meant nothing to me at the time. To be honest, I was quite creeped out by a man dressed in all black showing up at my cabin and requesting for specifically me. By the end of the summer it was all back. Every single memory was back and I wanted nothing more than to go to Hogwarts. "

"So they did come back. Your memories came back and-"

"No I couldn't come back, Harry. It was just impossible with the circumstances."

Harry slumped back.

"The day the blast happened, I knew it was time to go. I had no plan, but I had my bag and my potions, so I went for it. My most optimistic option was that the three of you would be amidst the flames, but instead I instantly recognized the eerie black smoke. I ran through ruins of Boulder in nothing but infernos and destruction and looked for them; but as fast as the blast happened, they were gone. And then I saw my opportunity…"

She stopped again to take a few gasps of air, shake her head and wipe tears from her eyes.

"A girl I went to primary school with was laying on the steps of the courthouse gasping for air. Maggie Marshall was her name; I'll never forget it. I knelt down and noticed the gash on her neck was so deep, and her body was so mangled…"

"My potion was only good enough to heal the wound on her neck, and I watched her flail as my spellwork failed without my wand…"

"My mind went straight to my bag. I was experimenting with polyjuice the weeks prior and I figured out how to make a ready-to-go polyjuice… just add hair…." She desperately giggled through tears.

"I took a handful of that girl's hair for later, and took a wad of my own hair and sprinkled a few curls inside the vial. She was able to take sips of the potion now that her neck was sealed up, and she was aware that it wasn't going to heal the internal damage about to claim her life…"

"I watched her transform into me and take her final breaths…"

"That night I went brewed as many polyjuice potions as I could in that forest and kept them in in a new enchanted bag knowing that I had to adopt this personality for as long as I could."

"That funeral was days after that… polyjuice lasts for a couple of hours at the latest." Hermione curiously wondered.

"I went to the morgue that night, hoping that the initial discovery of my 'body' and the news posts were enough to convince everyone that I was dead. Then I was going to somehow alter the medical report to have her body cremated. To my surprise, she was still in the form of me on that metal slab. The polyjuice had barely worn off at all. A few faint images of Maggie's tattoos were showing up on the lower extremities, but that was all. I knew that it would hold by Saturday if it was changing back that slowly."

"I spent 24 hours in Maggie's apartment, completely submerging myself into her brain. She had no parents, fiancé was in jail, and apartment was covered in drugs and alcohol. After I had the deviant personality down, I knew that with that image I could get around more easily with Death Eaters trying to figure out news of where you guys were. It just so happened that a couple of them were in a pub in London talking about the Potter transport night and how Mundungus was a total snitch and was trying to sell Slytherin's locket to Umbridge, so I knew I had to act fast."

"Then right after I stole it, you guys had the house elf sweep me off my feet, much earlier than I had intended." Lia shook her head.

"How long were you planning to be like this?" Harry gestured to her copper hair.

"Until he was dead. I was able to swipe a few wands from a couple of Death Eaters I disarmed, and I was slowly going to start knocking them out from the sidelines."

"Then once our side won, I knew it would be safe to be me again, or at least what was left of me." She picked at her fingernails with her heavy head pointed toward the ground.

"What and you think you'd just come back in to my life and act like nothing had ever happened? Expect me to still be lovesick over you?" Harry boomed.

"No, I never expected anyone to welcome me back, even now. All I wanted to do was covertly help you and return to my old life. Lia couldn't exist until this war is over and Harry has won." She roared, noticing her emotions were running wildly.

* * *

Lia trailed off into the nearby woodland area allowing for the trio to wrap their heads on the bizarre story that had just been presented to them. Harry's head was in shambles; he spent so much time wishing for Lia to come back that he had never worked out the kinks in his wish if it were to come true. He was upset that she traveled with them for months and began to know a completely nonexistent person. She was right there all along, but never once did Harry know, nor recognize any mannerisms.

Charging off into the forest, Harry found Lia tending to a few wild weeds on the bank of a rushing river. He approached quietly, unsure what he was going to say to her, in between being angry and utterly overwhelmed. She knelt into the silt, delicately handling the plants with the same tenderness as Harry was so accustomed to.

"It's okay, Harry. I understand." She greeted him, without looking up from her mud-covered hands.

Harry approached her, perching on a gritty boulder admiring a déjà vu moment of his girlfriend working.

"What's okay?" Harry retorted.

"You can be mad at me. I've had time to reflect and I'll be patient with your frustrations. I'll be happy to try and build a friendship again."

"The first day you met me you had all of these preconceived ideas of who I was, and you gave me a chance and we became almost one. Now you sit down there and dare tell me that we can 'be friends' again if we work at it. Has all that polyjuice gone to your head, Lia? This summer has been the hardest time of my life. Every single day I wished that Voldemort would come and kill me because without you, nothing made sense. Don't you take that from me, don't you tell me that you just want to be my friend…"

"Harry, I didn't mean it like-"

"Yes you did. You're doing it again. You're thinking its some bullshit way of protecting me. It's not, because now that you're back it's like an unlimited power source. You give me strength, Lia. It's why I'm so pissed you pretended to be someone else for so long."

"I know it's hard for you to understand why I did it. But I knew in my heart that if I rushed back as myself it would have compromised things. Even now, I am still planning on using the polyjuice during the day. It will only benefit us. I am like an invisible force that they wont even look twice at. But if they know that the chosen one's girlfriend somehow survived death, it's going to give them motive to try and start to attack more aggressively again. You know that."

Harry was able to see light in her perspective, but was still put off by the coldness of her plan to disappear.

"Your hair…" Harry gestured.

"I found out the more your appearance is like the one you're attempting to be, the longer the effects last. "

The flow of the water was broken by her two pale legs entering the rush as she delved deep beneath the cold surface to wash off the excess filth from her wrists. Water droplets fell from her skin as she rose into the freezing air wrapping a thick cotton robe around her shoulders. Harry leapt from the solid rock almost electrocuted from her strides heading toward him. There was a slight hesitation in her approach, but Harry urged the continuation up the slight green incline. All of Harry's doubts had cleared as she was now only inches from him about her identity. The same golden swirls in her blue eyes caught Harry's attention, and no amount of polyjuice could replicate the beautiful starry scene surrounding her pupils. Her aroma smelled like fresh earth, and Harry could feel the chill radiate from her sodden skin. The levy broke, and all resentment fell dropped into the Forest of Dean floor as Harry couldn't control his lips as they connected with Lia's. The world ignited again as Harry could feel the cells in his heart regenerate with the familiar feel and scent of Lia's plush lips. He was home again.


	7. Chapter 7

The Lovegood house was solitary atop a grassy hill, sticking out quite obviously with the deepness of its bricks against the openness of the sky. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Lia walked in a horizontal line out of the forest edge approaching the house with caution. Orange floral kites were attached to thick wooden stakes deep into the Earth, solidifying their confidence on the right residency. Lia was now morphed into Perry, but still cautious of her underlying identity, she happily loomed back and investigated the Lovegood garden as the trio bashed the door with the Eagle brass doorknocker. After the three had disappeared into the threshold following Xenophilius into the entrance of his living room, Lia began admiring the strange plants growing. Lia picked a few handfuls of the orange dirigible plums after taking a hearty bite into one, admiring the taste and the sudden boost of energy she received.

Twenty minutes had gone by and Lia began to become increasingly uncomfortable with the amount of time that had passed, so she began peeking through the wide set windows on the east side of the house. Xenophilius looked extremely distraught and appeared to be yelling as the trio was inching toward the door. No sooner did Lia discover black smoke traveling in a straight line right toward the Lovegood home, where she instantly cast a spell to burst open the thin glassed window.

"Death Eaters!" She screamed, leaning up over the broken glass reaching for her friend's fingertips.

The four disapparated before the Death Eaters were able to destroy the Lovegood home with the trio inside of it. They were back in the company of the trees, which Lia couldn't be upset about, but Harry, Ron and Hermione were almost nauseated by the site of trees naked without their leaves.

"He called it the Deathly Hallows." Harry blurted out, while him and Lia carried logs to a makeshift pit.

"He acted like it was unusual to not know of it too. It's this symbol." Harry grabbed a twig with an ample amount of deep chestnut mud attached to the end of it.

"The Elder wand, The Cloak of Invisibility and the Resurrection stone." Harry repeated as he sketched the infamous symbol.

"It is said to that one who masters all three objects would be a "Master of Death." Harry added.

"You think _you know who_ is trying to become that master?" Lia inquired, tossing a heavy log.

Harry nodded.

A narrowing blackness of Lia's pupil alerted Harry that something beyond him deeper into the forest troubled her. Harry had turned briefly, instantly noticing Ron and Hermione bolting toward them with sheer looks of panic on their faces. Hermione's thin wand extended out into the air as an eruption of silver light materialized and came whirling right at Harry's face. The pain produced one such as a punch, but Harry had no time to tend to it as Lia scooped him up by the collar and the four dashed off toward the denser arrangement of the trees.

"Snatchers!" Lia yelled, dangling Harry behind her, which kept him on pace due to lack of proper eyesight after Hermione's spell.

A leather-stitched flask was knocked back in the air tightly under Lia's lips; even with Harry's swollen eyes, he could tell that her hair was gaining its spring after hours of the polyjuice wearing off. It wasn't easy to run in sync while they each were sprinting like they had never sprinted before.

"Lia, GO!" Hermione screamed, only a few footsteps behind them.

They all halted, slightly bent over trying to gasp in cool air being fully aware of the snatchers circling on them.

"Lia, apparate out of here!" Hermione repeated herself.

"No, I'm not lea-"

"Do as I say!" She boomed.

"You'll find a way back to us. It makes more sense having one of us go!" Hermione urged her again.

Thinking on her toes, Lia apparated without kissing Harry, knowing that it would have blown her cover over the polyjuice wearing off.

"Three out a four ain't that bad, yeah?" A man with black rat's nest hair approached them.

"Too bad your friend had to leave the party early, ugly. She was a cutie. Woulda love to play with her." The man spoke straight to Harry.

"But you…." He immediately turned and cupped underneath Hermione's chin.

"You'll do just fine.."

"Don't you fucking touch her." Ron charged at him with his arms being bound by a tight grip from one of the male snatchers.

"I'll do more than touch her." The man sneered.

A raven-haired snatcher cleared her throat, causing the man to retract from Hermione and roll his eyes back in Harry's direction. Hermione's spell was rapidly fading where Harry's true identity was becoming increasingly obvious.

"Haven't I hit the jackpot here?" The man gestured toward Harry's maroon scar now only slightly disfigured.

Harry refused to speak, not allowing the man to have any more incriminating features to reveal his identity.

"Off to the Malfoy's." A cracked tooth smiled said in a singsong voice.

* * *

A pale narrow street connected to a few meters wide pathway that had elevated deep emerald hedges lining the edges of it. The plants were so tall it was almost like a tunnel until they reached a wrought-iron gate with pointed stakes reaching for the sky. The main snatcher stabbed his wand into Harry's back forcing him to stumble forward toward the vast manor, which looked near castle-like just from sheer size. The Malfoy gardens were beautifully elaborate with almost a tragic irony contrasted to the desperate moment heading toward building. Harry counted all of the spots in the yards that Lia would have stopped in to snip off buds of plants or even just stop to sniff the greens.

They were only a few meters from the mansion when Hermione turned with an expression of sheer panic when she had seen Harry's face had almost completely morphed back.

"Stupid motherfucker." Hermione masked her voice from underneath her hand.

The snatcher stopped, whipped around completely with his jaw pointed to the side and thick unruly eyebrows arched.

"Excuse me?" He huffed.

"Harry, don't call him names!" Hermione gasped.

"You got somfin to say to me, ugly?" He threatened.

"Your breath smells horrible." Harry taunted, catching on to Hermione's game.

Two large hands grasped Harry and lobbed him against the gravel pathway, where the blows from the man's fists were directed mainly against Harry's face. Blood drained over Harry's eyes while he was in and out on consciousness while being dragged by his arms up the Malfoy threshold. The blood in his face resonated the pressure of his heartbeat, which indicated that their plan succeeded, and Harry's face may have been beat hard enough to coincide with the elements leftover from Hermione's spell. The snatcher let Harry's body fall with a loud thump in what looked like the drawing room of the Malfoy manor. All of the furniture was pushed against the walls and Harry's could see only images of feet through the irony hot liquid pouring over his face.

Harry felt his body being flipped over onto his back, where he could clearly see the evil grin of Bellatrix Lestrange staring down at him. If he had been more coherent, Harry would have probably reached up and strangled her himself, but he could barely even focus on breathing he was in so much pain.

"Why is his face bashed up?" She snarled.

"Little shit was pushing my buttons." The snatcher spat.

"You expect me to call the Dark Lord with him looking like that?! I can't tell if that's Potter or not! DRACO!" She boomed.

"Draco sweetie, please come here and tell me if this is Potter scum." She gestured toward the tow headed boy.

Draco lurched toward her, and Narcissa hugged close behind him as they approached the mangled Harry. Harry's eyes connected with Draco's and instantly Harry could see his pupils tighten when he recognized Harry beyond the damage.

"I can't tell for sure." Draco admitted, turning away from Harry.

Bellatrix flew off into a mad rage and threw Ron and Harry down into the Malfoy cellar, where they were reunited with a bruised Luna, frightened Ollivander and Griphook the goblin. Ron screamed and rattled the thick iron gate keeping they trapped downstairs, but soon Wormtail poked his thin measly wand through the gaps.

"One more move Weasley, and I'll do it." He threated in a mousy voice.

The cellar was wet and made completely out of cement, where there was one tiny lantern in the corner that barely let off enough light to see.

"Harry, what happened to your face? Get in a tangle with a snorkack?" She inquired, speaking in her usual calm demeanor.

Harry was unable to answer by the apparent blood curdling screams echoing against the cellar walls. It was clearly Hermione's scream, which could be heard intermittently with Bellatrix's yelling.

"HOW DID YOU GET THE SWORD OUT OF MY VAULT BITCH!" Bellatrix shouted at the top of her lungs, which followed by thrashing and Hermione screaming more.

A flash burst at the cellar door where Wormtail fell with a muffled thud, and allowed for Lia to be seen holding Dobby's hand at the entrance. She gestured with her finger for them to keep quiet as her and Dobby apparated again to the inside of the cellar, due to the uncertainty of how to unlock it. Dobby whisked Luna and Ollivander away from captivity leaving the three momentarily alone in the cellar.

Lia and Harry quickly embraced, but Harry couldn't bring himself to kiss her due to the fact that she was in the form of Perry.

"Harry, your face…" She pleaded, wiping off the excessive blood with the sleeve of her shirt.

The rubbing stung his skin, but Harry felt much better with the layers of dried blood wiped away from the bruising and now healing cuts.

"You found us." Harry stated.

"I only apparated a few meters away, and waited to see if I could take them all on, but from a farther perspective, it looked like we were standing on an ant hill of snatchers. I couldn't have taken them all….. but, I did hear Malfoy Manor."

"The Weasley's were luckily at the Burrow-"

A scream interrupted Lia's explanation.

"Does she have Hermione out there?!" Lia questioned.

Dobby was back in a flash, and tugging on the edges of Harry's shirt.

"Harry Potter! Dobby was so lucky to be visiting the Weasley's on this very week! Strange girl appeared and said to Master Arthur and Master Remus 'Harry Potter is in trouble'

"They almost cursed her, but she said 'Malfoy Manor' and they knew it could be true! Dobby knew that the Malfoy's had a cellar where they had evil dark things….. Dobby also knows it had a protection spell against apparation…. But Dobby knew that he could do it!"

"Dobby, you've done beautifully, but right now we have to get going out of here." Lia commanded.

Dobby scurried over to Harry, climbing up his back then reaching his tiny bony fingers out to Lia and Ron. They apparated only a tiny distance right over the threshold leading up to the drawing room.

"Wands?" Lia whispered, noticing the two boys were empty handed.

They crawled on their hands and knees up the stairs until Ron's eyes met with Hermione's as she lay bloodied on the hardwood floor. Death Eaters paced the floor as they argued about calling the Dark Lord or not, now that Snatchers had been bound to the empty deep oak Malfoy chairs. Draco stood with his back toward the cellar opening, fidgeting enough that if Harry acted quick he could yank his ankle and pull him to the ground. His strike was quick like a cobra catching pray immediately sending Draco crashing toward the ground causing his wand to break loose from his hand. The four emerged from the stairwell casting curses at any direction of black capes, where they quickly sprang to the defense.

"Enough!" Bellatrix screamed, holding Hermione by the hair with her dagger pointed at her neck.

"Harry, Harry, Harry…. I had a feeling it was you. As if you hadn't lost enough. But I see you have new little whore here… So soon, I thought after I killed your blondie girlfriend you'd be bent up for a while. Guess not." Bellatrix mocked, pointing her wand in Lia's direction.

"After you tricked us, I had to punish you. So me and Yaxley took a little flight over to Colorado and blasted every building we could. It worked." She cackled.

Ron couldn't tell who was angrier, Harry or Lia as they listened to Belltrix mock the apparent death of Harry's girlfriend.

"Don't fuck a pretty little bitch, Harry. Your heart wont break when I crush her next time" Bellatrix wildly screeched.

Harry was enraged but knew casting any kind of defensive spell would cost him the life of his best friend. Ron managed to press his knee against Draco's chest, keeping him pinned with the tip of Lia's wand held to his throat. Narcissa watched with sheer horror in her eyes silently pleading with Ron to release her son.

"Give us those wands and we will let Draco go." Lia demanded, pointing to the cluster of apprehended wands on the fireplace mantle.

Narcissa instantly inched toward them, causing Bellatrix to tighten her grip on Hermione.

"Sissy, what are you doing?!" Bellatrix asked irritated.

"Bella he has Draco. I don't care about them having their wands."

Her slender fingers reached up on the slate material gripping the wands and tossing them to the wandless Lia, where instantly Ron released Draco. Narcissa bowed her head and quickly guided her son away from the center of action. Bellatrix still held Hermione forcefully laughing at the three armed pointing their wands toward her. A gently creaking noise could be heard above them where they saw Dobby hanging from the giant metal chandelier. In an instant the large light fixture came crashing down forcing Bellatrix to release Hermione. Lia snatched up Dobby and Hermione, quickly meeting back with the boys and Griphook on the far black railing against the staircase.

"You little bastards!" Bellatrix screamed now rifling through her long black dress for any weapon near.

A blinding blue light appeared in the form of a wolf and snapped at the ankles of Bellatrix giving the group a few more seconds to compose themselves. The lot joined hands just as the patronus soared through the air connecting with Lia's wand giving them just enough time to apparate from the building. The six of their bodies were tossed all around a chilly sandy beach where in the distant Harry could see red draining from the tiniest. His shoes couldn't grip the squishy piles of sand fast enough to tend to Dobby's trembling body. Once Harry had picked Dobby up from the wetness he then noticed Bellatrix's dagger sticking straight from his tiny belly. Lia sprinted to them diving through her bag whilst graveling in sand grasping for any bottle of healing potion she had.

"Harry…. Potter…." His tiny lips moved before his large brown eyes shut for the last time.

Ron and Hermione huddled at the edge of where the white waves reached up until the tan sands weeping. Lia gripped at Harry's shoulders cupping him while he trembled with Dobby's lifeless body in his arms. By this time Lia's curly hair had been back as well as her normal facial features, making it easier for Harry to be comforted by the same arms that held him so tightly. Bill and Fleur bolted from the cabin wands at the ready pointed straight at Lia until they recognized her through the copper curls. Fleur dragged Lia from the sands, as well as scooping up Hermione as Bill knelt beside Harry.

"Let's give him the grandest funeral, Harry." Bill suggested.

The rest of the afternoon the men dug a grave atop the hill adjacent to the cozy cottage while the women prepared a grandeur headstone along with heaps of beautiful floral arrangements. Harry wrapped his body in his personal jacket while Ron gave Dobby a fresh pair of socks before they carried him to the gravesite.

Luna and Fleur gave their best attempts to keep Hermione sane, while Lia brushed tears from Harry's eyes as Bill prepared to lift Dobby's body. The group moved as one mass tearing collectively as Bill lowered the tiny elf in the hole. Luna was the only one composed enough to give a small beautiful send off to Dobby as Bill and Ron began to cover him with dirt. Harry felt like choking as he watched the brown specks cover his tiny friend; even the grips of Lia's fingers against his back couldn't comfort the pain of watching Dobby sink below them.


	8. Chapter 8

After the encounter at the Malfoy manor, Harry knew that there was no more room for any mistakes so he decided that their next move was going to be completely planned in every aspect. Harry has visions during his nightly slumber that Voldemort had broken into Dumbledore's tomb and stolen his wand. This now meant that Tom had the Elder wand, and Harry was terrified of the insurmountable power he felt that night in his dream. They had to be careful, or death would be a certainty.

The cottage was tiny, but held enough room to house those who were planning on staying. Luna left shortly after Dobby's funeral to be reunited with her father, and Ollivander was transported to a safe house near Godric's Hollow along with other Order members. Bill and Fleur graciously extended their guest rooms to the 5 remaining since Griphook had been chosen to possibly help the group in exchange for the sword of Gryffindor.

Ron and Hermione were giving the spare bedroom indoors, Griphook made rest in the attic and Harry and Lia were giving the glass enclosed outdoor porch area that was separated from the house.

Fleur was so excited to have guests that even among the gloominess she found it in her to prepare a massive feast for their guests. Even from their cozy little secluded room, Harry and Lia could smell the delicious food floating in the aroma escaping through the cowl atop their cottage. It was strange, watching Lia pull items from her tiny blue bag and set phials on the clouded windowsill. Harry imagined quite a few things for them after Hogwarts, but it felt awkward for him in this manner. For one, he was hoping on finishing out the school year with her, in the Gryffindor common room still going about their daily classes. Now she had already matured past what they were supposed to be. At this time the two of them would be getting ready for winter formal, or walking the Hogwarts corridor or even sneaking off into the Ravenclaw tower for a late night snogging.

Instead she was casting protection spells, in all black clothing contrasting to her usual beautiful pastel blue nightdress, barely even being able to look Harry in the eyes.

"Why don't you come sit on the bed before dinner is ready?" Harry said, patting a smoothed out spot on the pea green blanket.

"In a minute, Harry. I am almost done."

"No now…" Harry breathed against her neck, as he wrapped his chilled fingers around her waist.

"Two minutes… Harry." She barely whispered while he kissed her neck gently.

"Lia… I've only been able to dream about touching you…." Harry turned her around as she backed onto a rickety chest.

"Colovaria." Lia murmured, pointing her long wand into the locks of her hair.

Bursts of gold waved through the curls causing the color to return back to it's original state, nearly causing tears in Harry's eye to see Lia, almost a full year older, just as beautiful to him as he remembered.

"I'm so sorry, Harry. This has been-"

"Awkward." Harry interjected.

"Yeah, that. I've had this guilt inside of me that I haven't been able to shake. It's hard for me to even look at you because I can't stop questioning why or how much easier it would have been for us to be united."

"Stop. You made the right choice. You distanced yourself long enough to let me cool down about what happened in the astronomy tower. You have to stop dwelling."

Harry's damp forehead leaned against Lia's lips, where then his own mouth led to her collarbones. The strings from her shirt barely made it off her shoulders before a loud knock was heard against the opening of the hut.

"Dinner is ready guys!" Ron screamed from the doorstep, causing Harry to smack his knee against the a dusty old chest.

"Oi! Be right there!" Harry called back.

"Tonight love." Lia breathed against his cheek.

Lia dressed in a pleasant cocktail dress, leaving her hair in its natural state before Harry grabbed her by the arm and lead her up the dim lighted pathway. Fleur and Bill had a grand spread of various kinds of French foods along with home-style favorites that Molly would have made.

"Ophelia, it is so nice to see you here in our cottage. Bill and I were very saddened when we were informed of your wrong death. " She greeted in a heavy French accent after a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Please sit." Bill gestured to Harry and Lia to join Ron and Hermione.

They ate, and ate until Fleur's pearl colored china plates were completely clean of any crumbs. Pots of chocolate cream floated over their shoulders and landed perfect center with glasses of milk directly in front of them.

"So Lia…" Bill trailed off.

"You caused quite an uproar with the Order with your death. Everyone was rather bent about it. I s'pose that you still haven't revealed to anyone else, yeah?" Bill questioned while stirring his dessert.

"No, I would rather keep it that way, as well. Bill, Fleur, if you could just promise me secrecy until this is over, my life would be in your debt." She bowed her head.

"Seems like a good offer, seeing as that you might possibly have more than one life to offer." Bill chuckled.

"Bill, don't play with er!" Fleur lightly tapped his shoulder.

"You are secret safe with us, Lia. You are a bonne amie, dear. I am very thankful for your return." She smiled, with what looked like a few twinkling tears in her blue eyes.

"You owe nothing to us, Lia. Just promise you'll keep my brother safe, and we will be even." Bill's lip curled straight into the white raised scar on his cheek.

The taste of chocolate was so wonderfully creamy it set Harry into sort of a dreamy trance where all he could escape to what thoughts of what to do next.

"Bill, what can you tell me about Gringotts?" Harry pensively asked.

Harry, Ron and Bill discussed all of the ins and outs of the famous banking establishment where Harry's feelings were confirmed that Bellatrix Lestrange had a vault residing there, which was more than kept under wraps. Bill could only disclose so much information, being a non-goblin employee, he was quite unaware about the extensive magic put into protecting vaults. The men talked into the wee hours of the night while the women spent time sorting through Lia's potions, trying some of them out in the tiny indoor garden that Fleur has grown since their time staying in Shell Cottage.

"Since when did you become interested in making potions and growing plants, Lia?" Fleur wondered, while watching petals from a peony bud sparkle as she dropped beads from an unlabeled bottle on them.

"Ever since it was the only hobby that cost nearly nothing." She smiled as she concocted about a dozen more phials of polyjuice potion.

"The Earth became my best friend during summers where I wasn't interning and when I would return for holiday. The mountain is full is magic that Muggles only see as common weeds, but they truly are hidden treasures. Anything I could get my hands on, I brewed. My potions professor at Eaglecrest also was kind enough to give me scraps of whatever students left behind in her classroom when term ended. And Snape… well….. anything of his was mine."

Hermione and Fleur exchanged sour glares by the mention of the raven-haired professor, still quite scorned with him for murdering Dumbledore.

"Did you suspect him, Lia?" Hermione pushed.

"I know its absurd to you all, but Snape was a good, kind hearted man. So was Dumbledore, and the two of them had a bond, a completely undeniable bond. I saw the look in Severus's eyes as he cast the spell. If you all could have seen that, you probably wouldn't feel the way you do about him."

The three could hear Harry and Ron stirring away from the wicker furniture in the living area and quickly stopped conversing about Severus Snape. Harry's eyes were heavy and puffy, to where Lia knew it was time to call it a night. Lia called for Apollo to walk them carefully against the stone path, letting his glow be dim enough to not irritate the sensitivity of their eyes in the dark. The cottage gleamed beautifully atop the hill, raised above the small octagon shaped glass house they two were shacked up in. The two laid in their under garments on the full sized bed staring up into the glass ceiling reflecting the wildly luminous moon. Harry ran his fingers against her pale naked stomach, enjoying the usual scent of skin.

"I wouldn't mind buying a tiny place on the beach just like this." Harry blurted out.

"How about a nice vacation home? The ocean doesn't serve too well for growing plants or brewing potions.." Lia lightly giggled.

"A castle in the forest, with stone walls just like Hogwarts, and a garden the size of the Quidditch field… how about that?" Lia described while dragging her fingers against Harry's free arm.

"As long as there is at least one patch in the treetops for me to watch the stars." Harry bargained.

"On a professor's and auror's salary, I am sure we can make as many modifications as we would like."

The bed slowly lifted its four legs off of the dirt filled floor and spun so minutely suspended in the air.

"I wish I met you earlier, Ophelia. A lot of this pain in my life would have been easier to work through."

"No Harry, I am sure my younger self wouldn't have had the courage to insult you so easily. We met at the right time, and our fates our playing out as they should."

Harry's eyes shut before Lia's, lulling him into a shallow sleep, where most of it he spent tossing and turning while ferociously murmuring about the death of Dobby and Sirius. Lia was only slightly familiar with Harry's night terrors but easily found a potion to rub on his temples to help easy the thoughts that haunted his dreams.

* * *

The next month at Shell cottage proved to be helpful and therapeutic for Harry and his friends. Bill and Griphook precisely began planning with Harry on how he was going to break into Bellatrix's vault, both providing more than adequate information of all aspects of Gringotts. Each day Harry's relationship became much more what it was like back in the Gryffindor tower during his sixth year. Lia promised Harry that in the secrecy of the Shell Cottage she would keep her original identity on the surface without any use of polyjuice or charms to bewilder anyone. This was a tremendous healing source for Harry not only suffering from the constant post traumatic stress, but also recovering from the hurt that he was still trying to work through the trauma of Lia's staged death.

Even in the late afternoons of Bill laying out maps of the vaults, and Griphook grilling Harry for what prices he was going to pay for the return of his help, Harry could find sanctity watching Lia spin circles in her bohemian shawls while ankle deep in the ocean waves. She would even sometimes put on the radio in the back garden while tending to Fleur's plants, and Harry could hear her humming while being locked up with his Gringotts' business.

Hermione also began preparing herself after realizing the only way to get into Bellatrix's vault was to actually become her. Just in luck, the group was able to find pieces of her black hair wrapped tightly around the hilt of her dagger. Narcissa must have not noticed that in the bundle of wands she tossed over to Lia, it included Bellatrix's hooked and pointy wand, making their success of breaking in to Gringotts much more likely. Lia was a near master at prolonging the spell and brewing ready to drink potions, so the two spent plenty of time in Fleur's greenhouse making vials upon vials of versions of Bellatrix's evil brew.

Harry also found himself infatuated with running his hands over Lia's nude body in whatever minute of free time they have available. He remembered the feeling of love making the year prior, but in the time passed, it had only gotten better. Lia's soft moans under the starry sky as she planted herself on top of him, rocking back and forth causing immense pleasure for the both of them. Her soft breasts, which seemed to almost not fit in Harry's hands anymore, as well as her fully figure that had completely returned as she was now properly eating at Shell Cottage. Harry was obsessed with the taste of her and causing her to convulse and writhe as he flicked his tongue for as long as she could bear between her legs. There was not one night where Harry had gotten sick of undressing her, and sharing pleasure with her until the two of them were out of breath and glistening with sweat in the moonlight.

Their days at Shell Cottage were numbered, as Harry and his friends felt more and more prepared for their journey into the ground to retrieve what Harry believed was going to be a horcrux. Harry had been pleased that on the night before their planned departure of Shell Cottage, Remus Lupin appeared just before midnight catching the entire group off guard. Remus had joyous news of Tonks giving birth to a lovely baby boy named Teddy, and that he was naming Harry the godfather of the child. It also surprised everyone in Shell Cottage that Remus knew of Lia's staged death plot, but told no one.

"You knew! All along you knew, Remus?" Lia gasped as Lupin stood smugly in the kitchen doorway.

"The Order made a trip to the wake in Colorado after we knew that Harry had left the States. What you don't know, Lia, is that werewolves have a higher smelling threshold than any other creature on the planet. Each of you have a distinct smell, and even in death, that smell is apparent to me. That smell didn't match the body in the casket. I had also noticed a tattoo behind the ear of the corpse, which I had a large hunch you hadn't received."

"Remus, why didn't you tell me?" Harry pleaded.

"Harry, if someone went so far to fake their death, especially a witch like Lia, it must be important. Besides, what was I going to tell you? 'Based off of the smell of a dead corpse, I think your girlfriend is alive?' You would've thought me mad!"

Harry nodded with a soft chuckle, then quickly uncorked a bottle of wine that Bill, Harry, Ron and Remus finished before the clock hand turned to 1am. Before his drunken stupor set in, Remus offered Harry plenty of advice for the Gringotts heist as well as many reason's James would have been proud of Harry if he had seen him today. Bill and Ron sang old Weasley house hymns while the girls joined in drinking an old bottle of vodka that Fleur found in the cabinet above the fridge. Remus was the first to close his eyes on the plump dusty sofa back in the shoe room as the couples remained awake into the wee hours of the night. Bill and Fleur quickly disappeared up the winding stairs to their bedroom after Fleur was heard whispering phrases in French quietly into Bill's ear. Hermione was always more than a lush when she had consumed alcohol and glided from the sooty rug to pick up her purple beaded bag with Lia's endless amount of potions.

"Lia, you've been a bag girl." She slurred while sloppily writhing her hand deep into the bag.

A tiny phial with a cloudy emerald oil looking substance was wrapped underneath Hermione's tiny hand as she stumbled back onto the floor. Harry was too busy kissing Lia's knuckles while he sat between her knees on the floor to pay attention to anything Hermione was saying.

"I was doing a little extra studying on your potions with a few of my books, and I see here this is a spin off of Euphoria Elixir. The minute I opened it, I knew it was a little off. Smells like….."

"Weed. Yeah, I know. Some hippies planted marijuana up in the mountains and I thought maybe the THC had some magical properties. Turns out just gives you a super high mixed with Euphoria."

Hermione shot the group a sideways grin and tipped the bottle back, only taking a few sipped before her eyes rolled back and she began swaying in her seat with her lip clenched by her teeth. Ron quickly jumped to retrieve the bottle, where he also took a tiny sip of the potion, where his eyes became heavy with a glaze as he sat with his girlfriend. Harry and Lia laughed as they watched Ron and Hermione physically levitate from the potion in such a transcendental state. Hermione seductively handed Lia the bottle, where she took a big swig in her mouth, and then quickly joined Harry's lips to hers, introducing the liquid to his tongue with hers. The kissing didn't stop there, where soon Ron and Hermione joined in suit while the two couples felt as if they were floating from the high. Harry pulled Lia on top of him, while out of the corner of his eye he could see Ron on top of Hermione lifting her shirt above her head. Normally, Harry would have run from the scene and possibly burned his eyes with a curse, but the drug caused him to stay and allow the mood to continue on.

Their two bodies intertwined rolled behind the clunky couch allowing the two of them a bit more privacy, and to not have to personally witness Ron and Hermione engaging in lewd behavior together. A few times Hermione called over the couch, inviting Harry and Lia to join her and Ron, where Harry politely declined, more than entertained with Lia rubbing herself on top of him. The more the potion wore, off the less Hermione was heard giggling, and the more strange grunting was heard from behind that orange couch. Harry could only imagine how intoxicated the two of them had to be for them to be engaging in that kind of behavior on Ron's older brother's living room floor. Harry on the other hand, although still feeling rather high, couldn't bring himself to have sex with Lia where Remus or Bill could walk in and discover them. Instead, Harry spiritedly grabbed at Lia's fingers, leading her to the chilly outdoor setting, where Lia luckily had a thick velvety purple blanket wrapped around her shoulders.

The more Harry's head cleared, the more he realized that after leaving Shell Cottage, him and Lia might not ever have a chance to be alone in such an intimate manner again. Harry stuck his wand in the sand, casting a light lumos so he could at least not fumble around in the damp sand right on the cusp of the ocean. Harry stretched the blanket out, and relaxed himself resting on the palms of his hands while Lia's dress billowed in the crisp ocean breeze. Her locks of hair continued to flow over her face, and Harry couldn't help but completely admire the state of her hair messily tossed about and her evening make up almost completely wiped off revealing her natural face.

"Dance for me." He cooed over the crashing dawn waves.

"What?" Lia snickered, sinking her pale toes deep into the ground.

"Dance for me like you do when you think I can't see you." Harry smiled, awkwardly imitating the way she moved her arms when she was spinning circles.

"Only if you dance with me." She extended her gangly arm, where Harry gripped it and lifted himself from the beach.

Lia hadn't forgotten Harry's clunky dance moves as they nearly tripped over every single mound of raised sand and Harry managed to step on her naked toes at least a dozen times. The two spun in circles until they became to dizzy and crashed into the violet blanket where immediately Harry raised Lia's dress over the top of her curls. Harry could feel that Lia was ready for the moment by the amount of wetness already present before his mouth even touched the sensitive area. It wasn't long before the ocean muffled the sounds of her screamed as her muscles tightened and Harry watched his favorite scene of her back arching and mouth being open as wide as she could manage. Harry quickly scurried up the blanked and pulled her thick thighs around his back rubbing himself over the wetness in between her legs. Lia pulled his head down onto hers tasting what Harry could as he pleasured her while the sun slowly rose over the glistening vast body of water. It wasn't long after before Harry entered her and bit down lightly on the thin skin above her collarbone. The pile of sand position Lia perfectly for Harry to be entering her at the right angle to cause Lia to tighten again around him, where Harry found it harder to concentrate and keep himself from finishing. It was clearly morning and the ocean calmed where Harry could hear Lia moaning out his name over and over as he picked up the pace. Her face was now pink and her fingers gripped tightly into his shoulders where Harry couldn't hold himself together any longer after Lia whispered… "Fuck Harry….." into his ear.

The two lay facing each other with the pastel orange morning sunlight barely streaking over the sands, completely nude and out of breath. Lia's hair was knotted and beads of sweat dripped down Harry's forehead as they pulled each other in close for a tight fit.

"I love you, Harry Potter."


	9. Chapter 9

The streets of Diagon Alley had the same round cobblestones that Harry had always remembered, but unfortunately not all the buildings had been keep up quite as nicely. Harry watched Lia's blue eyes twinkle as she peered into busted shop windows experiencing a secondhand amazement of what all Hogwarts students were so privileged to have. Unfortunately, Harry had to silently give a tour underneath the cloak of invisibility with Griphook the goblin attached to his back. Lia, now disguised as Perry, linked arms with Hermione, who now was fumbling over her pointed heals and trying to manage her wild black curly hair as Bellatrix Lestrange. Ron was disguised as a random creepy bloke that they picked hairs from in a bar in central London while making their trek to the secret place.

Lia was smart enough to alter her hair, knowing that it was unwise to have the identical look of the girl battling with Death Eaters in the Malfoy Manor. With a quick charm, it changed from the short strange redheaded style to a silky black nearly brushing against the cobblestone street. There were many street carts on pop up buildings containing more Death Eaters than Harry could manage to count on his hands and toes, which made him increasingly uneasy.

Many Death Eaters passed Hermione, and surprisingly she was a much more convincing Bellatrix than the group could have imagined. Only a few times did it become hairy where Death Eaters questioned why Bellatrix was not locked in the Malfoy Manor where it was rumored she was. Travers was the wizard's name who couldn't just be brushed off with a brash comment made by 'Bellatrix', and seeming unnervingly curious about how Bella had been able to walk around Diagon Alley.

"Pretty bold of you questioning Madame Lestrange, a worm like you." Lia growled in a harsh raspy voice.

"I wasn't questioning, I was just curious. IF you were down here, there might be some serious business and might be important information for the rest of us _worms_ just waiting for orders here." The man mocked Lia.

"Better watch your tongue before I cut it out, Travers." Hermione barked.

"The Dark Lord shows mercy to his loyal followers, so I suggest you watch the way to speak to them." She threatened, moving quickly past him, where unfortunately he blindly followed.

Gringotts still towered over all other buildings in the Alley, with its offset snowy white levels still seeming to be flourishing quite well in the dark times. Harry loomed behind the group ahead of him as they pushed the chestnut doors wide open where immediately the guards noticed something was wrong. Harry acted quickly and used a confundus charm on both of the guards and Travers, where the guards happily retreated and left Hermione unchecked to carry on. They traveled silently to the front desk attempting to not bring any more attention to them if necessary. Griphook whispered under the cloak of invisibility as he noticed the uneasy movements and forced gestures by the goblins working in the main hall.

"They know something is up." Griphook sneered under the cloak.

Hermione approached the main desk first where the Goblin there insisted for Bellatrix's identification, Hermione knew the moment she put that wand on the desk, their cover would be foiled.

"You dare speak to Bellatrix Lestrange like that Goblin!" Lia bellowed at Bogrod the goblin.

"I am sorry, Ms. Lestrange, but at times like these, we require it." He politely insisted.

Harry knew they were unwavering and blasted the imperius curse through the threads of the cloak in two directions, one at the goblin and one at Travers. The goblin then welcomed the entire party to follow him past the gate and down a flight of stairs. The beautiful marble and ginormous crystal chandeliers quickly disappeared as the group wound through a muggy and damp tunnel where a tiny track stopped their travels and Bogrod summoned cart the comfortably fit the party. It was a wild ride without any safety harnesses as it did frantic loops and twists and turns and slammed itself through a ragging waterfall, which caused all potions, curses or spells to become non-active. The cart's floor opened and sent the group free falling into hundreds of feet of open cave air. A spell suspended them moments before they all were squashed against the damp floor, and Harry graciously offered his hand to Lia to help her form the grime.

Hermione didn't much so mind having the features of Bellatrix melt off of her, but Lia frantically dug through her bag grasping two phials of polyjuice and sucking them down within seconds. Harry had to imperius Bogrod again as he started screaming about the group being impostures, where he once again gladly showed the group amongst the stalagmites where there was a large empty platform that Griphook held his arm out for the group to stop moving. A tiny brass object with two metal bells at the end was retrieved from the marble flooring where the tiny goblin shook it and revealed a giant translucent dragon cowering in the corner.

"It's been trained to expect pain when this noise is made." The goblin evilly snared.

"That's barbaric!" Hermione cried, and the goblin coyly rolled it's black eyes.

"A dragon is no one's to be kept for slavery." Lia growled through her scarce tears.

The goblin ignored the two's plea for the magical creature, and also did not noticed that Lia hung behind and immediately began tending to the poor dragon's wounds that seemed to have been inflicted for many years. Harry's mission was much more important at hand and pressed on with Bogrod, where he graciously used his hand to unlocked Bellatrix's vault.

Lia watched as Harry disappeared where she gently used her wand to break the chains around the animals neck, which had been so tightly wrapped around it the skin started growing into the metal. The beast flailed at first, and shot small spurts of fire into the air, but then lay calmly as Lia dripped some of her homemade potions onto its neck. The dragon cooed, and allowed for Lia to continue spellwork on it, although it's eyes were clouded due to the inactivity of being able to see sunlight for many years. Columns blasted into pieces of dust as Lia watched Gringotts guards as well as Death Eaters begin to infiltrate the well-guarded area. With wand in hand she began blasting disarming spells at the two Death Eaters that lead the group.

"Harry, guys….. We have company!" She screamed toward the vault door, which was still shut with her friends inside of it.

Lia was not one bit shocked when she saw the flashes of emerald light zoom past her head, knowing that there was no reason for Death Eaters to not use the killing curse this far into the war. The dragon sensed that Lia was nervously defending herself and began showering those attacking her with blazing wildfire coming from behind it's fangs. Soon gold cups came pouring out of the vault as well as the trio, which now noticed that they were being under attack. Lia could see that Harry's face was covered in burns, as well as Hermione and Ron's arms and fingers. Harry held a cup, which once connected with Lia, he tossed down into her bag and pulled a wand to begin fighting alongside her. There was no apparent way out, until Lia's eyes connected with Hermione's as she watched the girl study the dragon. There was an unspoken agreement, then the two girls instantly hopped onto the dragon's back reaching for their partner's hands to jump aboard.

"Let's get out of here, brave warrior." Lia whispered to the dragon, being closest to it's scarred head.

The dragon haphazardly climbed what was left of the pillars, almost instinctively knowing how to escape as if it had spend it's time in captivity planning the great getaway. It blasted through the floor of the main Gringotts floor, killing many of the goblins that were busy away at work. The glass shattered on the top of the dome as the free creature now stood on the edge of the bank, appreciating the feel of what wind was in the free world. The dragon took flight, and the group gripped on for dear life as the dragon flew passionately through the open sky. They were only up in the air long enough to be far away enough from Diagon Alley to ensure that no Voldemort follower could find them. The dragon swooped through the countryside, where Harry noticed a large body of water and decided to not make the animal land and dismount safely into the lake. Harry led the way, where Ron had to physically rip Hermione off of the beast and the trio fell nearly one hundred feet into the lake. Lia took a few more second to pull out a special potion she only had a few vials of, where her fingers shook so hard she could barely steady herself to dip them inside the vial. Gently, she rubbed the silky substance onto the creature's eyes, where it's beautiful ice blue irises had restored themselves and the dragon's vision had been active again.

"Be free, brave soul. Don't ever let anyone enslave you again." Lia spoke to the animal and dropped below right before the edge of the lake escaped her.

Lia was the last to swim her way against the slight current in the chilly lake, where Harry was waiting on the edge to pull her from the water. The four turned away and stripped down to nothing as Hermione passed along clothes she had packed in her bag. Harry's eyes focused on the absence in the air as he fell to the ground and seemed to convulse. Only moments later, Lia was holding his head from the ground and visions flashed before his eyes.

"He knows. Voldemort knows that we are hunting horcruxes and he is pissed. But, inside of his mind I was able to see where the rest of them are. We have to hurry, he's going to be trying to protect them. We have to go back to Hogwarts, the last one is there." Harry trembled, but was able to step to his own two feet.

Lia rubbed fragrant potions all over the trio's cuts and burns, and soon there wasn't even a scar to show for their injuries. Once everyone was patched up, Hermione knew they weren't going to be able to apparate onto the Hogwarts grounds, so instead, whirled them into Hogsmeade.


	10. Chapter 10

A tiny room with barely four standing walls, and a large fireplace with a delicate portrait of a beautiful young woman stood stagnantly behind a man that towered over the group as they stood united.

"Next time the lot of you decide to come to Hogsmeade, you might want to make sure there aren't any alarms you're going to set off with entry. You four are lucky those Death Eaters didn't blast you away before I got there."

"I am sure we could have managed." Lia sassed back.

"You, I don't think I recognize your face." Aberforth Dumbledore said inching unnervingly close to Lia.

There was no effects left of polyjuice on Lia's appearance as she stood before him with her long blonde frizzy curls.

"And I don't think I know yours either, but I'm not demanding an introduction." Lia angrily stated.

Harry pulled her back, approaching the giant man who had plenty of features that resembled his previous headmaster.

"Harry, although you are the chosen one, I believe you would have better chances fleeing and hiding away….. forever. There's no chance you can beat him."

"We have every fighting chance!" Lia retaliated over Harry's shoulder, where Hermione grabbed her hand and silently shot him a defensive glare.

"It's my duty, Aberforth. To this entire wizarding world, if I don't at least try, then there's no hope whatsoever. Please… if there's anyway….. I beg of your help, Dumbledore."

The man shook his thick head, allowing his overgrown beard to tremble in the stale air, where he turned to the painting and whispered into the girl's ear. It was only moments before her silhouette could be seeing traveling back up in to the painting with a lanky follower behind her. The painting cracked open and no other than Neville Longbottom was standing behind it with a black eye and countless bloodied scratches all over his skin.

"Harry!" Neville bellowed as he jumped down from the darkened passageway.

"Hermione! Ron! You're all okay! And….." Neville couldn't finish his sentence.

After releasing Ron, he hobbled over to Lia and touched her face to test if it was real.

"This isn't polyjuice, is it? You're alive!" He yelled, picking Lia up from the floor and spinning her around.

"Let's not get too fresh, Neville." Harry joked.

Neville sprinted off into the darkness where the group nearly had to run to keep up with him.

"Things have changed guys, but we've been trying to fight back. Dumbledore's Army is in full force now." Neville smiled behind his shoulder.

Another large thin painting whisked aside as Neville jumped down first from the tunnel and landed in a pile of dust while the group behind the painting jumped to their feet. The Room of Requirement had made a special arrangement for those trying to escape the horrid clutches of the Death Eaters and the regime of Snape who were inclined to beat students instead of punish them in a humane manner. That was made clear by the amount of bandaged students, and the desperate looks on their faces.

Harry was the first to enter, where the crowd went wild, more wild than they had felt in months. Tears and hugs were exchanged throughout the trio, where Lia felt odd being back in her own skin and not being able to decipher if those glares were out of curiosity or disdain. Neville started spreading the news of Harry's return like lightning through the allies, which traveled so fast and far that students that had been expelled from the school arrived within minutes. Ginny appartated and nearly knocked Hermione over from such a strong hug, as well as squeezing Lia's lungs that all of the air left them.

"You're alive?" She murmured through a slight welling of tears.

"I'm still here, Gin." Lia's voice cracked as she pulled one of her dearest friends in close.

Lia spent time silently going around hugging those in the Gryffindor house and apologizing where she was surprisingly accepted back into their ranks without any discrepancy.

"We need your help guys, we are trying to find an item. Something small and easy to conceal, but most likely something to do with Ravenclaw, any ideas?" Harry pleaded with the group, which most of them stared up at the ceiling deep in thought.

"The diadem! The lost Diadem of Rowena. If there was any object that would mean any more importance, it would be that one." Luna cried out.

"Do you know where that might be, Luna?" Harry asked spiritedly.

"Well, I have an idea, but-"

"He knows, Snape knows you're here, Harry." Seamus came busting through the crowd out of breath.

"He's calling for all students to meet in the Great Hall. Some Death Eaters moseyed on up here from Hogsmeade." Seamus explained.

The large group of students formed a mass around Harry, who was under the cloak of invisibility to join them at the required meeting by Severus Snape. Hermione, Lia and Ron were given dress robes, where they cautiously lifted the hoods to help conceal their identities while they walked alongside the rest of the students.

"Polyjuice, Lia?" Harry asked, gripping onto one of her springing curls.

"Not here, I am done hiding. The one place I call home will not have to witness me as someone I am not. I'm ready now." Lia assured him.

There was no real uproar with the transport to the Great Hall, since the Death Eaters were looking for a frantic Harry running about the castle, so they didn't even pay a second glance to the orderly ranks.

Once the four houses were lined up in perfect rows, Severus stomped his way to the blackened podium and demanded utter silence. His eyes were soulless as he scanned through the crowd without much conviction.

"It has come to my attention that Harry Potter has been spotted not to far from the castle and is going to make an attempt to reach out to you." He explained in a monotone manner.

"If any of you are to come across Mr. Potter, you are not to fight him. You are to immediately turn him over to me, and me alone." Snape now was striding in between the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw ranks.

Lia felt an invisible tug on her robe, known that Harry was signally her that he was going to make a move very soon.

"If anyone is to know the whereabouts of Mr. Potter and does not relinquish that information, they will be punished accordingly." Snape stopped, scanning the Gryffindor students.

"What if it were me, Severus?" Lia stepped out with her robe that was now lying on the floor.

Snape's eyes grew wider than saucers, quite literally reacted as if he had seen a ghost.

"Lia…" A breathless whisper left his lips.

The Carrows shot out curses at her, but an innate force caused Snape to block them.

Harry immediately flew out from underneath his disguise and blasted the Crutiatus curse at the siblings, being more than raged at their attempt to hurt Lia. Amycus was struck by the red lightning coming from Harry's wand and lay at Snape's feet with his eyes closed.

"Why Severus?!" Lia cried out to him, as Harry took lead in front of her.

Snape had no words, but only a swift movement to reach for his wand, where the couple defensively pointed their own right back.

"Severus Snape. Headmaster of Hogwarts. How dare you? How dare you stand there and claim you're equal. I bet none of them know. Know how that night you let the curse leave your wand and kill the only man known to trust you!" Harry yelled at him.

Harry could hear Lia whimper behind him, watching Snape stand bewildered, more affected by Harry's small monologue than he would let on. The Order busted through the Great Hall doors commencing almost an instant battle between Death Eaters and those against them. Minerva jumped in front of the action, and ceased the scuffle by releasing a spell at Severus herself. Snape fled, leaving a chaotic mess of students and Order members attempting to collect themselves.

The four in the group immediately separated and reached out to confused students, where Lia naturally gravitated toward the Slytherin students. Most of them looked utterly terrified, and she understood knowing that many of their families were forced to join the ranks of Voldemort. An eerie silence lay over them, where the students gently joined around the blonde.

"You are all so brave. I understand that right now, that instinct inside of you is to point your wands at Harry, and myself, and all those that fight in the name of good. But I promise you, if you all take a stand for what's right, your mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters will see the light. Voldemort has no power over love, and you all contain that right here." She said pointing to the center of her chest.

"I will not stop any of you if you think your place is out there with him. But if you can find it in your hearts, stay, fight against evil. You're Slytherins, proud and strong, so defend the school that gave you your honor." She cried out to them.

Few students filed out, sniggering under their breaths, but to her surprise many stayed. Lia married them along with the other students who were standing along with the Order. Harry was off taking to McGonagall, while Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Kingsley were performing charms on each and every student, giving them as much protection as they possibly could. A large group gathered, almost waiting for orders as they could sense the real battle was about to ensue any moment. Minerva pointed her wand at the ceiling, almost calling to the building for protection where massive enchanted statues fell from the walls wearing suits or armor and equipped with giant weapons. She then gathered Molly, Professor Flitwick, Slughorn and Bill to join her in using protection charms to help arm the building to its fullest potential.

"Harry… Ron and I had an idea, of how to destroy the horcrux… Down in the chamber-"

"No need to explain, Hermione. I know you two will figure it out."

"I need to search for the diadem, Ginny, you stay here and help leading with Lia. The two of you will keep everyone safe."

Remus and Tonks had already disappeared to their stations with Fred and George so the frightened students had no guidance and were only moments away from mass bedlam.

Ginny immediately corralled students and started barking orders to them while Lia pulled Harry off to the side.

"Harry please be careful." She demanded of him, while pressing him against the cinder wall.

"I won't be long, back in less than a flash." He assured with a quick kiss.

"Do not worry about me, Lia. I am begging you."

She nodded giving him one more peck and darted off into Ginny's direction. Many of the students reacted brilliantly to the deafening explosions occurring outside, with their wands at the ready.

"Alright, I need you all to disperse throughout the castle, remember your spells, use them swiftly and before a Death Eater has a chance to even to notice your presence. Gryffindors, take the Viaduct Courtyard with McGonagall, Slytherins stay here, protect the Great Hall. Hufflepuffs, you take the upper levels, and Ravenclaws spread yourselves evenly on the Grand staircases and the surrounding areas. Please stick near the Order members, listen to them. If you are scared, hide; there is no shame in that. Otherwise be brave, fight along your brothers and sisters, and remember to help each other! Every single witch and wizard life matters."

The giant mass distributed while Lia and Ginny made rounds through the castle, making checkpoints with every Order member seeing where the help was needed the most. For the moment being, Lia and Ginny loomed in the Viaduct courtyard and watched as beautiful beams of deathly spells attempted to penetrate the large protection spell around the castle.

"Only moments now, dears." Minerva stood her ground, unwearied, where instantly the two women were in awe of her poise.

"Wands ready." She calmly instructed, now watching pieces of the protection spell float down to the ground singed by dark magic.

The storm came quick as a cloud of black smoke engulfed the courtyard and spells immediately began exploding the columns lining the outside of where everyone was standing. Ginny and Lia stood back to back, using defensive curses at the literal tornado of Death Eaters ripping through the castle. Not long after, Ginny caught a glimpse of Ron, where she tugged at Lia's shoulder and the two carefully exited the courtyard. The two were soaked from head to toe, where Hermione flashed ruins of Helga Hufflepuff's cup. They could hear Harry's clunky footsteps sprinting down the hall, where Lia yanked him to a stop noticing that he almost ran right past them.

"The Room of Requirement. We have to get there, now!" Harry exasperated.

A thunderous boom was heard just around the corner where shrieking screams of students rang through the halls.

"I'll go, you four get to the Room of Requirement, now!" Ginny demanded.

Ginny took leave to tend to the intense battling, while the group converged and ran in sync to the normal spot where Dumbledore's Army met in the Room of Requirement previously. A door unfurled from the cement just big enough for Lia to bring up the end of the group and duck underneath the archway.

"Look for something like a tiara." Harry advised, already rifling through a sizeable pile of leather suitcases.

The four separated rapidly piecing through random objects stacked in the room of hidden things hoping to come across anything that resembled a diadem. The blasts only became louder and thin lines of dust drifted from the ceiling as the tiles shifted from the commotion. Lia sifted through all kinds of antique jewelry and home furnishings, but nothing that even closely resembled a tiara.

"Got it!" Harry called from behind a mountain of clothes racks and tattered luggage.

"Not so fast, Potter." A lower pitched voice called from behind a tarnished birdcage.

"Draco!" Lia called, crossing in front of Harry's path.

Draco's jaw twitched as he unclenched it, now letting his shoulders relax and almost a doughy-eyed look glazed across his sapphire eyes.

"Lia, you're-"

Without letting him finished, she reached her insipid forearms out to his direction, where almost with a magnetization his body leaned forward.

"Draco!" Vincent Crabbe called out in disgust, stopping his friend before the two connected.

"I thought you were dead." Draco whispered with misty crystal blue eyes.

After a silent moment of reconciliation, Lia's eyes widened as she watched Crabbe cross Gregory Goyle and point his wand right at Harry.

"AVADA KEDA-"

"NO!" Lia screamed, pushing Draco to the floor, and deflecting the curse with her own wand.

"Are you MENTAL, Crabbe?! You could have hit any one of us with that!" Draco screamed, now pointing his narrow black wand in their direction.

"They all deserve it, Draco! Scum just like Potter." Crabbe snarled back.

"I would run if I were you." Ron called over to him as Goyle backed far enough to be amidst Draco and Lia.

A fiery burst came from the tip of Crabbe's wand and began multiplying as at each second it came whirling toward them. The entire path caught off into a blaze and an immense heat radiated from all of the objects catching fire. Ron, Harry and Hermione bumped their heals into what felt like bunches of hay, but soon realized that it was brooms that were neatly placed behind them. Harry immediately tossed one to Lia, while him, Ron and Hermione mounted the well-worn sticks. Ron and Hermione instantly lifted from the ground and began heading out of the sea of flames.

"Draco jump on with Lia! Goyle, get over here!" Harry shouted, almost amazed of the words that came out of his mouth.

"Harry, I'm sorry!" Draco roared over the roaring blaze.

"Shut up before I change my mind, Malfoy!" Harry replied, while raising himself and Goyle off of the ground.

The four brooms soared through the air hovering over a tornado of whipping flames of flinging debris. The group heard screams coming from below, coming to realization that Vincent Crabbe was burning to death beneath them. A wave of heat billowed behind them, pushing their brooms to the full potential as they squeezed between the doors. A hard crash landing caused the lot to land shoulder and head first, tumbling amongst the ruin scattered in the halls. The diadem sat idle, while Harry scurried to his feet, kicking the object far into the heart of the flame where an enormous snake created of smoke slithered straight toward the doors until they slammed shut. Once turning around, Harry saw Lia pulling Ron and Hermione from their backs to their feet, then taking an extra long time securing Draco, as she wiped crimson blood from his forehead. Lia's hand was knocked out the way when Harry's collided with it, reaching for the towheaded boy and yanking him to his feet.

"There was never anything between you-"

"No Harry, I've been awful throughout the years. But I couldn't even be that awful." Draco bowed to him then gently helped Goyle to his feet.

"Draco, get your parents, and please get out of here. There's still time." Lia pleaded with him.

"And abandon Hogwarts, no thanks. Just watch my back, okay Li." Draco smiled over his shoulder and took off running into the amber puffs of smoke.

"Li?" Harry shot Lia a rather inquisitorial look.

"He was my best friend Harry, besides you lot of course." She grinned at Ron and Hermione.

"Never seen Malfoy that cheerful in my life." Ron joked.

"It's because none of you were actually looking… Let's go!" She screamed watching a red ball of electricity blast out the side of the castle wall.

The four ran to where the commotion seemed the most heavy, noticing Fred and Percy Weasley dueling in a devastated courtyard while two ragged Death Eaters. A stupefy spell knocked Fred to his knees, causing an instant reaction for Ron to sprint to his brother's aide.

"Avada Kedavra-" One of the cloaked members screamed, before Ron was able to deflect the curse before it connected with Fred's chest.

There was so much chaos, Ron failed to notice that the first spell was deflected, but the second attack against his brother Percy had not been guarded so well. Harry and Lia chased the Death Eater's off while Hermione and Ron hunched over the curly haired Weasley boy, staring blankly off into the smoky sky. Lia could hear Hermione's cries as she disarmed and knocked the side-toothed smile Death Eater onto his back.

The entire Weasley family had gathered with only minutes while Harry and Lia secured the surrounding area so the family could have a few moments of peace. Off in the distance, Harry could see Remus Lupin carrying a petite silhouette with bright purple hair dangling from her skull. Arthur and Bill were also lifting Percy from the rubble and carrying his body in the same direction that Remus had just disappeared through. Harry set off to trail Molly, as she rounded up the twins from their knees, but he felt a slight tug keeping his feet planted. Hermione also did not follow, as her and Lia made eye contact before the large herd of redheads vanished into the castle.

"We will have time to mourn, Harry. But now we have a snake to kill." Lia squeezed his shoulders.

Hermione's slender fingers wrapped around Harry's fingertips as she pulled him from the hazed courtyard while Lia followed closely behind. Harry was sunken nearly to the floor with depression as he prepared to exit the castle and stepped over chunks of the castle walls among some bodies that had not been collected yet of Death Eaters and students alike. His home was being destroyed, along with innocent children who were barely just sorted by the hat in their first years. The air to the shrieking shack was thick, almost like drinking down cool tea, where Harry could see trails of dense black smoke danced freely into the night sky from patches of wild fires lit from nearly every tower.

The shack had large frosted windows, where two silhouettes had a small distance between them and one's identity was more obvious than the color of the grass beneath them.

"Who is with Voldemort?" Lia whispered as the three clenched their muscles, moving as slowly and carefully they knelt perfectly to observe through a tiny crack in the window.

They watched as two black cloaks glided through the shack, speaking intensely without even a slight notice of the three against the shack's outer wall.

"Severus… this wand, it is failing me. I think we both know why, my dear friend. " Tom Riddle hissed underneath the single hanging dome shaped lamp.

"The wand answers to you, and you alone, my Lord." Severus replied with his face pointed toward the ground.

"Unfortunately Severus, although you've been a loyal servant to the cause, and to myself, this wand cannot answer me if you still breathe." Voldemort bowed his head, while resting the Elder wand gently in his hand, pointed straight at Snape.

"My Lord?" Severus asked, without an ounce of defensiveness in his stance.

Voldemort did not reply to Severus Snape, only pointed his wand, muttered a spell and encouraged his large snake to strike the man. Lia slightly gasped, where Harry was quick and cupped her mouth as he could feel streams of hot tears running over his fingers. It was only moments after that Voldemort aparrated away from the murder scene where Lia broke free from Harry and sprinted into the shack where she quickly tried to work her spells on Severus's wounds.

"Lia, it's no use." Harry heard Snape whisper to his girlfriend, who was now finger to elbow covered in carnage and blood.

"I can fix it." She was barely able to sob as she held her wand to the ripped skin all over his body.

"Lia…" Severus exhaled as his shaking fingers lowered her wand staring directly into her eyes.

A slight wind of air choked Lia as she gasped realizing that Severus was really going to die, and there was nothing she could do about it. At this point, Harry and Hermione were gathered around him, unsure of what to say or do as the blood from his body turned the entire floor red. Snape held out his hand to Harry, while Lia was now calmly sitting with her back against the far wall letting tears silently fall down her face. With Harry at eye level with Severus, it was much clearer to Harry that Snape was also letting tears leave his eyes.

"Harry Potter…. the boy who lived…." Snape gently chucked, with his face now glistening with a thick stream of clear tears.

The color was clearly beginning to drain from Severus's face, and making his sure death more apparent by the gargling in his breathing.

"Take my tears, Harry. Quickly!" Snape insisted, now realizing that the light was going to leave his eyes soon.

Hermione tossed over a clear phial, where then Harry held it gently against Snape's cheek as cloudy liquid poured from his eyes.

"Look…. at… me…" Severus pleaded with his last breath, while Harry glanced up from the vial and connected a gaze with a deep chocolate iris, watching the blackness relax as he took his last breath.

The three stood, where Harry could clearly see how distraught Lia was, a somber Hermione who had a heart to care about anyone, was now comforting even Severus Snape. The air went so silent that Harry felt as if the life had been sucked out of it until a slithering whisper came to echo inside of his head.

_You all have fought so valiantly, but it is in vain. I only want one, and only one of you, whom of which is being an insufferable coward. Every bit of magic blood spilled is a shame, and I wish that no more will be forced to tarnish the Hogwarts walls. Harry Potter, I speak only to you. I will give you one hour to bring yourself to the Forbidden Forest and relinquish yourself into my forces. If you do so, your friends will find mercy. If not, the fight will continue, and I will join my army in the fight, ensuring death for all. One hour, Harry Potter, that is all I will give you to meet your fate. _


	11. Chapter 11

Harry was now alone in Dumbledore's office, staring into his empty portrait and wondering how he had gone from only a small boy receiving his first Hogwarts letter to now a man, nearly responsible for the destruction of the castle which gave him the right. Harry wished for Lia to join him in the office for his final hour, he thought maybe to help ease her mourning that she would join him as he dove his face into the pensieve. Instead she waited in what was left of the Gryffindor common room, sitting amongst the rubble while Hermione left to comfort Ron down in the Great Hall.

The time passed quickly where Harry found Lia sitting in the frame of the usual massive couch always placed in the center of the common room, before the better half of his time had been used up. With ease, Harry lifted Lia's head onto his chest as the two sat silently next to the ruins of what used to be the fireplace.

"You knew." Harry quietly stated.

"Everything." Lia glanced up, now seeing that Harry's eyes had been reddened.

"He loved my mother-"

"Just as much as you love me, Harry."

"She loved him too. I wish I would have known. I wish all those years I hadn't been so horrible. He protected me for her, like a silent guardian."

"Harry he wanted so much to let his guard down and tell you. On strict orders from Dumbledore, he couldn't get close to you. Not while he was infiltrating the Death Eater ranks."

"And you…."

Harry could see that Lia's lip began to curl as he could see the softness in Harry's eyes before he even began speaking.

"Lia, he loved you. You were it. You were his star, and they definitely had a spot for you once you completed your schooling. Right before that night…. Snape had asked permission for him to board you over the summer. He was almost like-"

"A father. The most caring man, Harry. I am so sad that you never got to see that side of him. But it was only for the best."

Harry helped Lia up from the dust, cupping her hands in front of him allowing for the cover to clear before his bright blue eyes connected with hers.

"I also saw the meeting between the three of you, where you called Dumbledore an insensitive monster. So you know that I have-"

"Stop Harry, don't say it." She began crying again, gripping at his hair.

"You've known this long that I was a horcrux. Why…. How….?" Harry gently lifted her soft chin and wiped the tears from her cheeks.

"Some days I couldn't even look at you, knowing that one day you wouldn't be here with me. It's why I was so quick to jump at transforming myself into a disguise, because maybe if I wasn't truly me then I wouldn't have to see you die. Then I just denied it, saying that somehow we would figure it out, that there was another way. But, as I grew stronger, I realized that I will never be without you. Harry, your soul will never die. It will live on inside of my heart forever."

His lips met her knuckles as her forehead crinkled, where Harry shook his head, not allowing her to let any more water leave her already swollen eyes. The two meandered from the common room in search for Harry's best friends, who were gathered somberly in front of the Great Hall. Like magnets, the four gravitated toward each other, where Hermione instantly caught onto a devastating vibe. Harry could see past Ron's shoulder, Percy's dead body lying like a fallen domino next to Nymphadora Tonks, who was also stiff while Remus Lupin brushed her violet hair from her eyes.

"I have to go, friends." Harry scanned his friend's faces, trying his best to hold it together.

"You're not going to do it, Harry! You can't. We can fight him." Hermione cried out, as she heard Voldemort's voice replay in her head.

Ron nodded, seeing the seriousness in his best friend's eyes, that this wasn't a rash decision, it was something that had to be done.

Hermione cried out again, where Lia reached out for her friend's desperate grasp.

"It's okay, Mione. He has to." She comforted her.

"I know. I've had an idea for a while now. But nothing could prepare you for the moment your best friend is going to walk to his death." She strongly stated, now inching toward Harry.

The two hugged briefly, as time was not in their favor where Harry then backed slowly in which him and Ron collectively shared a teary eyed nod.

"I'll go with you, Harry. I won't let you go alone." Hermione cried out again.

"It has to be me, Hermione. Stay here. Once I'm gone, it's the snake and then it's just him. You guys, finish it." Harry urged, now staring off into the vastness beyond the front doors of the castle.

It wasn't easy for Hermione to watch Harry take his last sideways steps through the main halls of the castle standing side by side with Lia. Harry had allowed for Lia to walk him to the edge of the forest, much farther than he would let Hermione and Ron to come. The two gripped each other's fingers, stepping over blasted chunks of cement and blazed patches of grass. Harry made sure to take that path went right past where Hagrid's hut used to be, right in the perfect spot to see the top of Gryffindor tower. The tree line appeared as a massive black wall where Harry halted, unable to immediately see the look on Lia's face, not quite ready to confront her tears.

"It's time, Lia." Harry said with every ounce of courage inside of him, feeling completely unprepared to take the long walk into the forest.

They both lifted their heads, just enough to where the moonlight allowed to every detail to be highlighted in the blueness of the nightfall illumination. Harry's stomach churned as he noticed the little freckle on the tip of Lia's ear, which her heaps of golden locks were tightly secured behind it. There was also the faintest birthmark above her left eye that Harry had always loved, because it was almost in the shape of a leaf. His body warmed and his senses came to life as he imagined a perfect Monday morning sitting around a quaint kitchen table, stirring a tan colored coffee cup with his wand. While Lia sitting in one of his oversized button up shirts with her puffy sleepy eyes, and wild morning hair sipping on her normal cup of green tea with lemon and honey. Harry couldn't help but notice his own eyes began leaking, realizing that in only a few moments he would never experience the warmth of her touch, of the gleam of her smile ever again. He had only hoped that maybe after death, his spirit would be able to linger along long enough to see her truly smile again.

Her gentle soft fingers rubbed the wetness from Harry's eyes, and it was like the world went calm with her skin against his. There was no war, no death, no pain, nothing but the two of them with the world unnoticed in shambles around them.

"I'll love you for the rest of my life, Harry Potter." She shakily whispered to him.

"Just love me for the rest of mine, Lia." He insisted, while gripping her shoulders to allow one more look into her eyes.

Draco Malfoy's sleek black wand left Harry's sleeve, where he had held it out in the air for Lia to take from him.

"I wont need it any longer, Li. Give it back to him." He nodded, now feeling completely naked without a weapon.

Harry entangled his fingers into her curls once more as he pulled her head in toward him, allowing for her tender soft lips to connect with his for one last time. It was nothing short than amazing as Harry felt the fireworks inside of him, knowing that now he was able to have courage from this moment on. Harry soon began backing into the forest edge, where right before he disappeared into the blackness, Lia could see him mouth the words _I love you._

As Harry walked, he still felt that same electricity that kept his feet moving forward, knowing that Lia's power was so strongly filled with love that his own soul was filled with it. The tiny golden snitch made it's way into Harry's hand as he found a small clearing of trees to stop in before he completely committed to his task.

"I'm ready." He murmured to the snitch.

The metal ball unfurled and allowed for a black cut stone to levitate out of it, where immediately Harry was able to see misty silhouettes of his dead loved ones. Lily and James Potter stood directly in front of him, while Lily had her arms extended straight for Harry. Harry knew that he would only pass through her if he attempted to embrace her, so instead he just gathered them closely with Sirius in a semi circle.

"You have been so brave, Harry. We are so proud of you, son." Lily commended Harry with a bright gleaming smile.

Harry couldn't help but stare back at the edge of the forest, maybe hoping that somehow the stone would allow for Lia to be there with him.

"She's out there watching, son. Don't worry, she's not far." James nodded off into the direction where Harry had separated from Lia.

"We adore her, Harry. If only we could have seen the beautiful wedding. I know you wanted to ask her soon, Harry. I saw the ring." Lily grinned, now seeing Harry's own smile from imagining the moment of when he planned to ask Lia to marry him.

"You'll stay with me? Harry asked.

"Till the end, son." James assured.

"Will it hurt?" Harry inquired.

"It's just like falling asleep." Sirius comforted Harry.

Harry was clearly becoming nervous, the thought of walking straight into Voldemort's clutches, not sure how his demise was going to come.

"You're nearly there." James softly smiled at his son.

Harry could feel the wells in his eyes fill with hot tears, as he knew the time to be comforted by his dead loved ones was coming to an end.

"You'll stay close to me?" Harry shook, staring straight into his mother's eyes.

"Always." She lovingly nodded.

Harry dropped the stone, and felt the energy around him as he made off for an iridescent light only about ten yards off in the distance. Harry took the first step toward the end of his life, where a bright blue silhouette of a wolf joined him emitting an immense amount of bravery. The strange mass of a patronus allowed for enough support until Harry's front toes had met with the clearing at which the Dark Lord was waiting for him. Apollo disintegrated in a sort of glittery cloud, almost washing over Harry leaving a peaceful residue all around him. He was ready.


	12. The Deathly Heart

The edge of the Forbidden Forest wasn't very forgiving to Lia's eyesight as she peered through the thickness of trees and brush hoping that she might catch a glimpse of Harry. There was nothing but misty tree leaves to be seen where Lia soon made the decision to back away from the forest. There was a tiny courtyard the Lia stumbled upon, remembering the moonflowers that Harry had picked for her the year prior just before the two had become completely enveloped in each other. Even amongst the destruction, the wall supported against the castle still held fruitful white flowers, which were now in full bloom in the last moments of the dawn. Lia sat among them, staring off at the blackened treetops where the navy blue sky met the tiptops of the forest. Moments later the entire forest was illuminated with a blinding green emerald light, where Lia felt like a knife had jabbed her directly in the stomach, knowing the deed had been done. The only emotion she felt was pain, but urged herself from allowing tears to leave her eyes; she had to keep her promise to Harry.

The light began to suffocate the night, and Lia knew that she had to reunited with her friends because although Harry had given his life, the battle wasn't over. All who was left had gathered in the Great Hall, where now amongst the rows of the dead, Ron and Hermione had brought Severus's body back from the Shack, which meant a great deal to her. The minute that Hermione's eyes met Lia's, the worst reality had been confirmed; Her friend had truly fulfilled the prophecy.

Everyone was covered in ash and blood, completely exhausted and mostly huddled together waiting for word back from the Forbidden forest. Commotion had come fast from the entrance of Hogwarts, where everyone knew that their judgment day had now come. Lia grabbed Remus Lupin's hand in one and Neville Longbottom's in the other, seeing that Hermione had been brave to accompany the Weasley family out to the courtyard. A wall of Death Eaters had blocked the entire exit allowing for all defenders of Hogwarts to pool outside the entrance. Before Lia and her company completely exited, she noticed that Neville had been particularly tense.

"Kill the snake, Neville. Then we can take care of him. At all costs kill that snake." She affirmed him.

Lia, Draco, Ginny, Hermione, Neville and Ron took the front line directly facing the Death Eaters, where Bellatrix Lestrange looked exceedingly disturbed by Lia's presence amongst them. Voldemort had not taken a second glance at her, due to the fact his grin was larger than the morning sun as he peered over to Hagrid carrying Harry's dead body. Lia could feel her insides sink as she saw Harry's two feet dangle over Hagrid's massive arm.

It was eerily silent, for many had never seen Lord Voldemort's face in the flesh, and it was utterly terrifying seeing the man able to take lives almost as quickly as some are born. Bellatrix danced and cackled in the background, letting her wild black hair dangle about in the stale air. Voldemort upstaged the rest of the group, pointing his wand at Hagrid with a twisted grin on his face.

"Harry Potter is dead…." He laughed, now encouraging the rest of his crowd to join in.

"The boy who lived, is no longer, and is now the boy who BETRAYED!" He boomed, pacing the length of the courtyard.

"Although the traitor is dead, the ranks of you will be placed accordingly amongst ourselves! If you do not wish to comply, then you will _die_ along with him." Tom snarled.

"I'll have you know, I am sure you're all curious of how traitor Potter was vanquished. After he squirmed his way into the forest like a coward, he dropped to his knees, claiming to only care about himself. He said he no longer want to fight for you all, that in his heart, he could only care for himself, which meant death. As a merciful lord that I am, I granted it to him. One blow, straight to the heart." He teeth ground together as he grinned once more.

"YOU'RE A LIAR!" Ron shouted standing atop a pile of rubble.

"Don't worry Weasleys, we will see how long your alliance will stand once I start torturing you. Starting with the little one." He chuckled, directing his wand toward Ginny.

The crimson light left his wand, where Lia moved quickly deflecting the attack, sending the bolt of evil spiraling toward the sky.

"Let's not get hasty, Tom. " Lia spat at him.

Lia felt a reckless vibe inside of her as she made no reservation about challenging the Dark Lord. With Harry's death, she felt as if there was nothing stopping her from attacking full force to stop evil at any cost.

"And you are?" Seeming impressed by her quick spellwork.

"Ophelia Bloom."

"And with that kind of talent, it would be a shame to waste it. Will you be the first to join my ranks?" He seduced.

"I would rather di-"

"No Draco will be!" Narcissa yelled from behind the cloaked man.

Draco stood strong, clearly making it obvious that he had always been in alliance with Hogwarts.

"Come on, Draco. Come." Narcissa urged.

Draco felt a gently jab into his back, where then he felt the smoothness of his wand drop into the free hand he had dangling behind his back.

"Go Draco…." He heard his dearest friend discreetly whisper from behind him.

Hesitantly, Draco stumbled through the ruins, avoided being pulled in the by the Dark Lord and darted straight to his mother.

"Is this all who wants to live through the morning?" Voldemort said scanning the crowd.

Neville charged toward the center of the courtyard pointing his wand in Voldemort's direction, connecting a spell with the Dark Lord's chest, causing him to falter back. With quick rebound, Voldemort casted about a dozen spells in Neville's direction, causing him to lose hit footing, and his wand to soar across the courtyard.

"I recognize that face…. Neville Longbottom, isn't it? How's your parents?" The Dark Lord mocked.

With intense pain and injury, Neville stood to his feet, now clutching a ragged clump of thick musty material, which appeared to him as the sorting hat. Neville did not falter, just bravely intersected Voldemort from the rest of the crowd.

"A pureblood wizard, if I can remember. With courage to challenge such a great Lord sure as me, as well. Although I had hoped for better, I am sure I can find somewhere for you, Neville." Voldemort sneered.

"I would join you if HELL freezes over!" Neville screamed.

Voldemort attempted to use silencing charms on the cheers in the crowd, but the words _Dumbeldore's Army_ were somehow able to overpower the curse.

"You may have killed Harry, but you haven't killed what we all stand for. Because people, they die every single day, but Harry….. his heart stopped beating for all of us. And believe me you coward, Harry didn't die in vain, but YOU WILL!" Neville screamed and lunged straight for Nagini with the sword of Gryffindor that he pulled from the tattered hat.

With no less than a dozen gasps, Harry leapt from Hagrid's arms, where Draco dashed a few yards in his direction and tossed over his wand.

"KILL HIM POTTER!" Draco screamed, right before his father yanked him from the battlefield and headed toward the bridge away from the castle.

Voldemort stood in utter shock along with Lia as she watched Harry take cover from behind the courtyard as he shot wild killing curses at Nagini. Voldemort became irrational and began cursing anybody in his way, where Lia confronted him head on.

"Diffindo!" Lia calmly projected toward the Dark Lord, concentrating a single flow of a spell that connected against his pale cheek, causing a deep red gash to form.

This gave her only a moment before Neville and Harry came sprinting toward the duel, where Harry was quick to deflect a killing curse whirling right at his girlfriend.

"Harry Potter…." were the words that barely left her lips before Harry directed her away from the courtyard, and Neville forcefully snatched her hand pulling her away from the Dark Lord.

Once inside of the castle with the doors shut tightly, Lia began tugging on Harry's flannel shirt despite a raging battle now bursting through the front doors.

"Harry fucking Potter….." She ran her fingers through his dark brown hair.

"How many lives do you have?" She chuckled, quickly kissing him.

"As many as you do." He mildly joked, completely enveloped in the touch of her cold, dirty hand against his face.

Centaurs galloped around the grounds, stomping on any Death Eaters not fast enough to outrun them in what was left of the halls of Hogwarts. A hoard of recognizable screams was coming from the heart of the Great Hall, where Lia was eager to jump back in to action.

"Just the snake…" She assured, disconnecting from Harry and sprinting toward the major commotion.

Ginny, Luna and Hermione were holding off a crowd of Death Eaters, including Bellatrix Lestrange in between two massive severed pieces of one of the long great oak tables. House elves were led by Kreacher, taking kitchen knives and the few spells they were able to perform, stabbing Death Eater's ankles and cursing them as well as they could. Molly had her keen eye on the lot as she defended off the South end of the Great Hall alongside her husband and sons. Once Lia was clearly in eyesight, Bellatrix's laugh became deafeningly thunderous, where she shoved aside the three prior defenders and concentrated all of energy directly on Lia.

"Well, well, well.. .musta been pretty excited to see that Potter scum was still alive, eh? You two must be made for each other seeing as that YOU NEVER FUCKING DIE!" She boomed with her curved wand pointed straight at Lia.

"Let's finish this, Bellatrix. Me and you… _girl to girl_…." She mocked the haggard woman.

Bellatrix wasted no time sending multiple killing curses in Lia's direction, causing Lia to be on the highest defense she's ever been. Her intensity shook Lia to the bone, knowing that truly one of them wasn't going to have a pulse at the end of this duel. Lia attempted a few disarming spells, but soon realizing that anything of non-spectacular level wasn't going to cut it. Bellatrix attempted to cast a few curses toward the other women who were now preoccupied in their own duels, but Lia deflected each one.

"Not fair, Bella." Lia yelled, casting a confringo spell at her opponent who was ready for it.

Lia knew that she needed an advantage, so she dipped under Belltrix's wand and aimed a closed fist punch right into her pointed nose. Bellatrix was quick to react with a new dagger she had acquired jabbing it straight toward Lia's neck. Bellatrix cackled violently as she wiped the crimson blood from her crooked nose, preparing herself for battle once more.

Without even a second to gather herself, Bellatrix casted the cruciatus curse at Lia, where immediately she dropped to her knees and convulsed, feeling excruciating electricity running through her muscles. Lia's screams nearly curdled the blood of all those within earshot for a few minutes, until Lia was able to gather herself and wearily push herself to her feet. Lia casted two more disarming spells at Bellatrix, throwing her off guard, and then for the third blow all she could imagine was the killing curse, but didn't have the courage to actually say the unforgivable act. Without muttering a word, a black lightning strike whirled from Lia's wand and connected with Bellatrix's chest, where she froze and then disintegrated like an hourglass into a pile of dust on the floor.

At the end of the long duel, the entire Great Hall was cleared of all enemies, where Hermione had to run quickly before Lia collapsed again. Bellatrix's last crutiatus curse had some sort of boost intertwined with it, for there was a literal burn through Lia's shirt and her pale skin was singed in black soot. Blood poured from her pink lips, and she was barely able to breathe from the gargling of it pooling in her throat.

The remaining group followed the noise of what sounded like intense lightning, only just outside of the Great Hall. Minerva McGonagall, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Horace Slughorn stood in a tight trio as they battled with the Dark Lord fiercely which slowly started inching toward them, just in the center. There was an eerie intensity watching the citadels of magic battle each other with grace and poise that none of the younger witches or wizards possessed just yet.

Voldemort casted any spell he knew in rapid fire against the three, attempting at all costs to cause casualties on the sidelines. Lia buckled into cold pile of Hogwart's cinder, not being able to handle the residual pain of Bellatrix's curse, and unable to locate her blue enchanted bag with her potions inside. Hermione tried her best to search for one of Lia's potions in her own bags, but it became increasingly difficult during the battle of her lifetime. Voldemort seemed to have a head on the three as he cast his powerful evil spells as powerfully as he could muster until it seemed as if an invisible pain caused him to nearly fall to his knees.

"They did it… the killed the snake…." Hermione whispered to Lia as she poured a tiny bit left in one of the phials she was able to find in her purple bag.

The room went silent as Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom reentered the Great Hall, allowing for the three valiantly battling to move aside and let Harry take the center stage with his equal.

"Tom… Tom Riddle…. Here we are. Here it ends…." Harry calmly spoke, keeping level although just witnessing Lia barely in consciousness.

"You're a fool, Harry Potter…." Voldemort hissed.

"Am I though, Tom? You're holding a wand that can never kill me…. A wand that answers to me, and me alone. You killed the wrong man, Tom. Draco is the one who disarmed Dumbledore in the tower that night, and….." Harry dangled Draco's wand in front of Voldemort's face.

"Everyone is gone, Tom. Even your most trusted companions, although Severus Snape was never yours. Dumbledore is the one who instructed Severus to murder him that night in the astronomy tower. That is the only way you would trust him. His love for my mother was stronger than any bond the two of you had." Harry admitted.

This was the first time Harry had actually witnessed any amount of fear in the monster's eye, so he knew it was getting to him. Harry felt even more confident that toward the end of the monologue, he could see Lia smile from amidst the rubble at the mention of Snape and Lily.

"Just feel any remorse for what you did. You nearly wiped everyone I love from me. You killed more people than we can count. Just feel an ounce of guilt, Tom." Harry demanded.

Voldemort's face twisted in utter disgust as he thrust his wand at Harry one last time with a long stringy bolt of emerald light, which was quickly turned around on him at the wand disconnected from him and landed into Harry's hand. The spell had rebounded and the real master of the Elder wand had been revealed while Harry held the powerful object between his fingers. Tom Riddle's body dropped like with an intense force, bouncing off of the silt and rubble castle ruins for everyone to see. His eyes shut, as somehow maybe moments before his heart stopped, he was able to retreat into his mind for a moment of penitence.

His white feeble body was shrunken on the ground, while his snakelike face was void of any evilness that dwelled behind it. He had done it, Harry Potter had killed Lord Voldemort and it was finally over. Cheers burst throughout the campus as Harry stood with two wands clutched in his hands, enveloping him in a circle of wild rejoice and celebration. The crowd was deafening as the screams echoed over the ruins, which the twinkling sun seemed to overpower in the moments of victory. Arms nearly strangled Harry, where he quickly noticed Hermione and Ron with their bodies slammed against him. His body was being pulled in all directions, where nearly every single surviving witch or wizard was trying to hug him, praise him or shout some celebratory phrase in his face. Every single hand that touched him after his friends released him weren't the chilled frail hands he had hoped for.

Once the celebration died down, Harry stumbled through the Great Hall which now bore emotions of light at dark, as those who had the capacity to rejoiced, while others mourned over the bodies of those loved lost. A group of them moved Voldemort's body from those who valiantly lost their lives and placed it in a free chamber away from the Great Hall. McGonagall had already mended the House tables and had them places in their usual places, where not one witch or wizard separated themselves accordingly at the seats. All peoples were mixed in, house elves, centaurs, giants, ghosts, lovers, parents, but among them Harry still couldn't see the one faced he longed to find most. Harry attempted to sift through the crowd, but it came increasingly difficult at the amount of people who were stopping him for praise. Luna Lovegood intercepted Harry in between the normal Slytherin and Hufflepuff table, pulling him away from Katie Bell and her group of friends.

"Harry Potter, although your mission has ended, it seems as if you have another task occupying your mind." She said.

Harry nodded now noticing a mass of more admirers heading in his direction.

"Use the cloak, Harry. I hear she's with friends just past the Great Hall, where no more voices can be heard. "

Harry covered his shoulders and head with the cloak, and strode from the Great Hall, passing many images that warmed him to the core. Families were reunited, and even the Malfoy family had made their way back to the castle after Narcissa insisted on yanking Draco from the battle. Out in the hall, there was a calming silence, and even in the moment of recollection of loss and pain, Harry felt a cooling relief. The calmest exhale left his chest as he recognized golden curls pouring out from a head sitting with her back toward the soiled hall. Ginny Weasley sat alongside the battered body, and Ron and Hermione's silhouettes appeared through the gleaming sun before Harry immersed from the cloak.

Harry leaped from the cloak, and joined his girlfriend without much commotion, mostly just burying his face into her dense thick hair, reserving a slight smell of singed floral arrangements.

"Harry…"The voice exhaled.

Harry noticed now that Lia's face had been scratched in multiple places, her arms were bloody and her left knee had a deep dirty gash with had subsided from bleeding. Her shirt was torn where there was a semi-healed wound, which was nearly a half a foot wide, sullied in dirt and ashes.

"You're okay, you made it!" Harry exulted.

"It came close. Bella blasted me with some kind of tainted crutiatus curse. Fired straight through me and almost took every organ I have. But here I am." She smiled, with her eyes barely open.

Harry recalled all of the information that his friends had missed from the moment he connected with the pensieve to the moment when Voldemort's emerald light stole the breath from his lips. Hermione had now had a glazed look of amazement over her face, which Lia was now justified in her constant fight to save face for Severus. While the lot of them seemed content with resting for a bit, Harry still felt uneasy for there were still things he had to accomplish.

"I still have to go see one more person, if you'd like to join me?" Harry extended the offer.

Hermione and Ron were eager to follow Harry into the dark, but Lia and Ginny remained unmoved on the ground.

"I can't walk just yet, love. Been trying to regain feeling with some spellwork. You three deserve the peace." Lia urged.

"And I'm going to help mum get Percy's body ready for transport. Go." Ginny somberly admitted.

Harry and his friends navigated through what was left of the castle, where the same gargoyle that had protected Dumbledore's office had been propped up against the wall. It allowed them to enter without a password, where the same jolt of magic sent them spiraling up the staircase, leaving them motionless in the openness of Dumbledore's office. The former headmasters and headmistresses cheered Harry almost to a shriller level than the immediate celebration of the demise of the Dark Lord. There was only one portrait that Harry was interested in, which stood regally and enthusiastic for Harry to approach him. Dumbledore was delighted to see that his golden trio had survived and that good had prevailed as if he had always predicted.

Harry had revealed his plan to leave the resurrection stone amongst the rubble in the Forbidden Forest. Harry decided that the best way for the world to be kept at peace would be if he followed the path of Ignatius Peverell and decided to greet his friend death much later on in life as an old friend.

"Your choices all just a valiantly as I could expect from you, Harry Potter." Dumbledore softly smiled, glancing over to Ron and Hermione who were now bent over with their faces dipped into the cool pensieve.

"Harry, I assume your plans to become an auror are in full effect now after seeing what true pure evil has in store?" He inquired, nearly leaning from the painting.

"I'm not quite sure what the future holds for me, sir." Harry admitted.

"I hope miss Lia will continue her path that we had so carefully chosen for her in the next years. Once the castle is restored, that is. I was very humbled to see that she also survived this atrocious battle. She's quite the warrior, Harry. "

"She's astonishing, sir. Much braver than I think I could ever be." Harry recalled only the few moments he had seen his girlfriend take action.

"Don't sell yourself short, Harry. You are indeed the wizard who sacrificed himself for the greater good." Dumbledore nodded graciously.

The couple had finished reviewing the memories of Severus Snape, when once joined with Harry, there was heaviness about the truth revealing inside of that airy substance. The three tracked through their home, taking mental notes of the amount of repairs it needed, where somehow the castle looked as if it had already been repairing itself. The courtyard was now free of all inhabitants, as it was clear now than many of the dead and injured had been removed from the castle. Survivors who were well enough were gathered in the Great Hall in some sort of after battle celebration. Anyone who was unscathed brought warm wash clothes to cleans the minor wounds of those who hadn't needed to be rushed to the hospital. There was a rumor spreading that Madame Pomfrey had reopened what was left of the hospital wing in the castle and was treating some patients. Dean, Neville, Luna and Draco were gathered around a small fire burning drinking cups of fire whiskey and smoking rather large cigars that smelled like cherries.

"Potter." Draco said, extending his hand in Harry's direction.

The two embraced and Draco quickly noticed Harry's worried eyes as he could not pick out his girlfriend among the others who were injured in the Great Hall.

"She's with Madame, Harry. They were going to take her to the hospital, but Pomfrey was afraid she wasn't going to make it." Draco explained.

"But don't worry, Harry. I visited her and she was fine. Pomfrey told me that as Lia was propped up in her hospital bed, maybe only moments away from death she saw the brightest blue light sink into her abdomen. She told me to tell you to visit her when you're finished with your business. Whatever that means." Luna said in her usual singsong voice.

Harry felt burning in his back pocked as the power of the Elder wand made itself perfectly clear.

"I do have some unfinished business." Harry gestured toward Hermione.

"Me?" Hermione defensively exclaimed.

"Your bag, Hermione." Harry chuckled.

Harry fished through her bag, and plucked his wand from the many of items she had stowed away. The pieces of his holly wand were still perfectly split in two still resonating an awfully strong power nearly shaking in the phoenix feather core. Harry pulled the Elder wand and nearly the entire room went silent as the powerful object pointed at Harry's prized possession.

"All broken things can be mended, right?" Harry assured as a gentle white beam flowed from the tip of the Elder wand. The lights seeped into the wood, pulling it together with tiny stiches until the object was whole again.

No sooner did Harry firmly grip the Elder wand and snap it in two, watching the supremacy float to the skies as the wand slowly died. There was a collective gasp as Harry tossed the wand amongst the rubble and set it afire, while the flames only lasted a few minutes as it burned to ashes.

"Only one more thing to do before this is all over…." Harry trailed off, with his two best friends puzzled by what other task Harry Potter had in mind.

His singed fingers reached into a buttoned pocket on his shirt where he pulled out a rustic, elemental ring that twinkled in the dawn that poured in from the busted Great Hall windows.

"You said she was in the hospital wing, Draco?" Harry called across the way.

He nodded, which was easily looked over by Hermione gasping and clawing at Harry's arm to see the ring.

"You've had that ring throughout the battle?!" Hermione nearly screamed as she saw Harry's entire face light up brighter than the morning sky.

"If we both survived this war, I made myself a promise-"

"You were going to propose to her this entire time?" Hermione cried.

"Always."


End file.
